Model Maker
by FirePetals
Summary: Kagome, an aspiring dancer needs money to get into a dance school. Luckily she meets Inuyasha, a modelling agent who's desperate to find a look-alike and hastily offers Kagome a chance to earn money. Only problem is they're both way in over their heads.
1. The Ups and Downs

IMPORTANT: Okay before you read, this is not really and update…

A/N: Hello all, okay so I've re-posted all the old chapters of MM with corrections and a few changes here and there with the plot line. The changes are probably very discreet and I haven't really altered the plot line…I think. But I've finally got some good ideas for the story and chapter 10 will be posted tomorrow hopefully.

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**Chapter 1: The Ups and Downs**

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Every time the clock ticked Inuyasha had another impulse to knock it down.

Tick…tick… tick…

"Oh the hell with it!" He grumbled striking out and making it fall down to the pale green carpeted floor with a nice, loud clatter.

Everyone in the waiting room turned to look in his direction and the nurse at the front desk cleared her throat irritably while giving him a pointed look. Inuyasha just got up grabbing his black coat from the cushioned seat beside him and stalked into the gleaming white halls of the hospital.

It was taking too long, what the hell was happening?

Inuyasha sighed and leaned against the wall, quickly shoving his hands into his pockets. It was too cold in here why would anyone turn on the air conditioning full blast in a hospital, wouldn't that make people more sick?

He shook his head of the trailing thoughts. Even at an important time such as this, he could notice every little thing, as if it were any other day. But, it wasn't.

It took one call, just one measly call from the hospital, to make him leave work and run all the way here like his own mother had been the one that had gotten hurt. But then again, Kikyo did scold him and nag at him like he was a three-year-old.

And then again, it didn't matter if he left work, after all the person he was working for had just been in an accident. A car accident.

Inuyasha turned his eyes back to the waiting room when he heard the clicking of the nurse's heels on the tiled floor.

"Mr. Inuyasha?" She asked not lifting her eyes from the clipboard to see him.

"Yeah?" Inuyasha asked. Finally, after waiting for almost two hours, he'd get to see Kikyo.

"I think you'd be happy to know that Miss Kikyo is absolutely fine." The nurse said giving him a flat look. "I can tell by the way you knocked down my clock… but there is still a small problem."

Inuyasha rose an eyebrow, waiting for her to tell him what the hell she was talking about. The nurse just told him that everything was fine, Kikyo was all right and now she was saying that there was a problem. Great, just what he needed. Another 'small' problem to add to his list.

"What is it? What happened?" He asked.

"She broke her leg and she won't be going around anywhere soon. It's not too bad, the doctor has put it in a cast and it should be off in hm… about two to three weeks. After that she'll need some bed rest. I don't suppose she's broken her leg before but it's going to take a while for her to be up and going. The doctor thinks she was very lucky to-"

"Where is she? I need to see her." Inuyasha cut in. The nurse talked too much and she would have kept going on and on if he hadn't interrupted her. But he really did need to see Kikyo; he had to talk to her. This was all her fault, if she hadn't suggested getting a driving license than that idiot drunk wouldn't have crashed into her.

She shrugged one shoulder. "Sorry, she said she didn't want to be disturbed. I think she wanted to catch up on her beauty sleep." The nurse chuckled at her own little joke and murmured, "Ah, Kikyo Kinto-Japan's famous model- and beauty sleep…I _am_ getting better these days."

"But I'm her agent!" Inuyasha cried, ignoring the nurse's lame attempt at a joke. "I _need_ to talk to her!"

"Sorry Mr. Inuyasha, but you could talk to the doctor if you'd like. Someone around here has to pay the bill."

The nurse walked out, leaving Inuyasha alone in the eerily empty hallway. The fluorescent lights were too bright and they were reflecting off the white walls and making the hall all the more brighter.

Inuyasha cursed to himself, and ran a hand though his tousled hair. "I should get a different job." He muttered darkly.

Being agent for a model did have its perks- like getting an abnormally high salary- but there were more downs than ups in this particular career.

Almost everyday he'd be working late hours, trying to set up meetings with the high-class advertisement facilities, booking a different skilled photographer for every week, paying the bills, handing out pay checks to his staff…the list could go on.

And by next week, he'd have to get Kikyo ready for her interview with Mike Claire, the producer for the 'Strung High' fashion show. He personally wanted to talk to Kikyo, as in a 'get to know you' kind of thing but Inuyasha knew better. It was probably because he wanted to check her out himself, if he liked her he'd invite her to his private suite in Kyoto for an all nighter. Inuyasha knew this because the man had done it a couple times before with his previous models. But anyway, after the interview (not much hassle there) Kikyo would have a photo session with Claire and then the next week she'd be in his fashion show, out on the catwalk.

He had a lot to do this week, with so much work he wouldn't be bale to do anything else. But shit, how was he supposed to do all that when Kikyo had a broken leg!

If Kikyo couldn't get into the fashion show, she wouldn't get paid, if Kikyo didn't get paid, then Inuyasha wouldn't get paid…thus leading to a very stressed out hanyou.

Inuyasha heaved another frustrated sigh and flicked his cell phone open.

"Hey, Miroku?" He said into the phone.

"Yeah, what's up Inuyasha?" the voice on the other end answered. Miroku was one of the staff members that Inuyasha had to hand out the checks to.

"I'm in the hospital, Kikyo broke her leg."

"You're kidding right Inuyasha? Kikyo broke her leg?" Inuyasha rolled his eyes heaven ward. What the hell was wrong with everyone?

"Yes, that's what I just said, no? Anyway, I needed you to come over and pay the hospital bill then stay a while to check on Kikyo and have a chat with her doctor. He says she can't get out of bed for about a month, but see if we can change that okay?"

"Yeah, sure…but _Kikyo_ actually broke her leg?" Miroku tried again.

"Miroku!"

"Sorry, sorry. It's just hard to believe. I'll meet you there okay?" Inuyasha shook his head and looked around the hospital again.

"Actually, I'll be gone before you're here. I've never really been fond of hospitals before."

"Scared of some big, bad needles aren't we, Inuyasha?" Came Miroku's teasing voice as the young man tried to stifle his laugh. Inuyasha glared at the phone, before deciding to not answer him and quickly flipped the phone shut.

How disrespectful his staff was getting these days, he thought with a roll of his eyes. Giving a quick nod to the nurse at the desk he strode out ducking his head against the sharp blow of the October wind.

Walking past all the EMERGENCY paramedic vehicles, Inuyasha got to the parking lot and took out his keys to his car. It wasn't a very fancy one, not like his brothers countless many, but it did do the trick and it saved him from walking to work everyday.

But as soon as he put the key in the ignition and tried starting up the car, he changed his thoughts. Maybe he would be walking home today after all, the engine wasn't starting up. Inuyasha brought his fist down hard on the dashboard, and the engine whirred to life. Now this was another one of his 'small' problems. He'd just have to get a mechanic to look at it sometime tomorrow- if it was possible- with Kikyo and her injured foot he'd have a lot more work to do and that could possibly involve trying to persuade Mark Claire to postpone his interview and photo session with Kikyo.

As soon as he'd reach home, Inuyasha decided; he'd surf the internet and have a little look.

He was_ so_ getting a different job…

* * *

"-and the winner for this years talent show is…Kagome Higurashi!"

The said girl was standing in the spotlight, her brown eyes wide with shock and her mouth opening and closing as if she were trying to form words but nothing would come out. The announcer was standing on the stage beaming and gesturing to Kagome to get up on the stage as well.

Kagome Higurashi wasn't moving from her previous position, her mouth was still moving wordlessly like a gold fish. It was simple, she was shocked.

Someone's hand squeezed her shoulder and Kagome turned around to see Sango standing beside her with an encouraging smile.

"I knew it Kagome! I knew you'd win!" Sango was saying. The older girl pulled Kagome out of her trance by taking her arm and leading her through the crowd of high school students and onto the stage.

"Come on Kagome, you're going to have to say something." Sango said smiling once again. She gently guided Kagome to the stairs helping her climb them. The stage lights were a blinding white and they made Kagome feel as if she was in a dream. And maybe she was. This definitely could not be happening; she had just won the talent show, something she'd been striving for the whole year. And now she'd done it.

Suddenly realizing what just happened, Kagome broke out of her reverie with a big smile. She'd done it- she'd set her goals and she'd reached them. The talent show at her school was no ordinary one. The students at her school were all very competitive nto to mention skilled in many different areas. To win the talent show was an honour.

_Ah, mom is going to be so proud… _

The announcer greeted her with a hug and a handshake then handed Kagome her glass trophy.

"Kagome Higurashi, you've shown the judges and our wonderful audience a spectacular performance that everyone loved. Your performance was rewarded with this years Furi Daiya Talent Show trophy. Would you like to share a few words?"

Kagome nodded dumbly not knowing what else to do. The announcer placed the mike into her hands and took a step back.

"Um, good afternoon everyone as you all know now my name is Kagome Higurashi." She said blushing slightly. "This is my third year trying out for the Furi Daiya girls Talent Show and I'm really glad I won." Kagome nervously wrung her hands in her purple dress as she talked. Talking into a mike in front of this many people had never been one thing she was used to.

"I really don't know what more to say, I mean I've been dancing for years and all those years I knew dancing was my life-I'm just glad I got to share it with everyone today." She stopped and there was a silence around the whole room as everyone took in what the girl had just said but it didn't last long for the room suddenly broke into applause.

Kagome blushed again as she took a small bow then turned to the announcer giving a polite thank you. She walked down the stairs of the stage and through the crowd of students who were still applauding and cheering her on.

"Good job Kagome!" someone called out to her.

"You were awesome!" a couple people said patting her on the back.

"I knew you'd be the winner!"

Kagome was all taking it with a smile, but inside she was hopping around and shouting out with glee. She'd never gotten this much attention before. She was just so proud of herself.

Sango appeared in the crowd and led Kagome away to the sidelines. There she gave the girl a hug.

"I'm so happy for you Kagome!" She cried patting her on the back.

"Thanks Sango, if it wasn't for you I'd still be standing like a brick wall when they'd called me onto the stage." Kagome said with a laugh.

"No problem, that's what friends are for." Sango said grabbing a drink from the punch table. The talent show was over and the audience was slowly dwindling out of the room, eager to get back to their day of no school.

"I'm glad Miss Shinto let the school have a day off, because now we can celebrate!" Sango grinned. Kagome grinned back at her friend. Sango and her had met at the starting of the school year and had instantly clicked. Sango had just moved into the area and was new to the school so Kagome made it her job to show Sango around the Furi Daiya girl's high school.

"I know this great little fancy Italian restaurant so let's go there, it'll be my treat!" Sango said grabbing Kagome's hand and leading her to the auditorium doors.

"Hey, wait a second!" Kagome said stopping Sango in her tracks. "I'm the one who won, so it's my treat."

Sango shook her head giving Kagome a wry smile. "And I'm the good friend, so it's _my_ treat. And that's final, okay?"

Kagome gave a defeated sigh and shook her head. The two girls proceeded out of the gym doors and out into the schools halls.

"Hold on a sec," Sango said walking right, down the hallway. "I just have to get my purse from my locker and then we'll go."

"Sure," Kagome said, "I'm right behind you." Both the girls stopped at Sango's locker and Kagome waited as Sango spun the dial for her locker combo.

"Kagome, Higurashi Kagome!" A female voice called out from behind them. Kagome and Sango both turned to look at who it was. A short lady with curly hair was walking towards them her mouth fixed into a big smile, showing off her perfect teeth.

"Uh, how can I help you?" Kagome asked uncertainly as the woman stopped beside them.

"Hi," The woman said grabbing Kagome hand and shaking it warmly. "My name is Yukoto and I was one of the judges in today's show."

Kagome's face broke into surprise. "Really? You were one of the judges today?"

The woman nodded her head making her short curls bob up and down.

"Yes and I just wanted to tell you that you put on one amazing show."

"Thank you so much, I really appreciate it." Kagome gushed, her cheeks going red.

"In fact," The woman began again pulling a card out of her pocket. " I liked it so much that I wanted to ask you if you'd like to join our dance school in Kyoto." The woman took out a pen too and scribbled down her number on the back of it.

"I want you to think about it and then give me a call, I'm really hoping you'll give it a try though. Our academy could use someone as talented as you."

"What?" Kagome gasped. She was still hanging on to the fact that she was talking to one of the judges, and now she was being given a once-in-a life time offer! How could she possibly form words at this time?

Luckily for her, Sango dove in for the rescue again.

"Kagome's just a little tired and the dancing's just got to her head, I'm sure she means that she'll take you up on your offer…" Sango said elbowing Kagome slightly in the ribs. "Won't you Kagome?"

Kagome, getting her wits back, took the card from Yukoto, hesitating a little.

"Um, just let me think about it and I'll get back to you as soon as I can." Kagome said. "I'll have to talk it out with my mother and-"

"No, No," Yukoto said cutting Kagome off. "I understand completely. You talk with your mother and then we can all sit down to discuss it when you've come to an agreement."

"Thank you _so_ much." Kagome said again, clutching the card tightly in her hands. This was it; her future depended on this.

"It's my pleasure." Yukoto said beaming again. "I'll be going now, see you girls later, oh and Kagome don't forget to call." She turned and walked down the hallway before giving Kagome and Sango a final wave.

When Yukoto was gone and out of their sight, Sango turned on Kagome with an angry look.

"Kagome what is wrong with you?" Kagome turned away from her friend and began walking the opposite way down the hall to the main doors.

"What do you mean?" Kagome asked meekly and walked on.

Sango grabbed her purse from her locker, closed it and quickly ran to catch up to Kagome.

"You know what I mean! Why didn't you just say yes on the spot? That was your big chance, Kagome!"

"Because I still have to talk to my mom about this, exactly what I told Yukoto."

Sango grabbed Kagome's hand making Kagome halt to a stop.

"I know that your mother would've wanted you to say yes and you know it too, so what's the big problem? Don't you _want_ to go?" Sango demanded.

Kagome whirled on Sango. Of course she wanted to go, of course she wanted to make dancing her life, of course she wanted to be one of the best! But that wasn't all there was to it…

"Yes I do want to go, Sango! I've been waiting for this kind of thing my whole life. But I can't, even if my mom wanted me to go I know we wouldn't have the money for all of it. The Kyoto Dance Academy is the most expensive dance school in Japan! And in my house, my mom has barely enough to put food on the table."

Kagome sighed putting her head in her hands. "It's just not possible."

Sango feeling sympathetic for her friend put an arm around her comfortingly.

"Hey, we'll think of something. There has to be a way we can solve this. May be you can get a job or something…"

Kagome glance up at Sango, giving her a watery smile.

"Sango, don't you remember? I already have a job, flipping burgers that is."

Sango laughed lightly. "Oh, my bad. But still, don't worry I know we'll work something out. And hey! Weren't we supposed to be on our way to a celebration dinner? And here we are wasting precious time. Come on let's get there quick, those fancy restaurants don't stay open forever you know!"

Kagome couldn't resist but smiling. It was great to have a friend like Sango.

* * *

Inuyasha kicked the side of his car again, but to no avail. Well obviously, he thought to himself, what exactly did he expect from a cheap bought car?

Inuyasha muttered a curse to himself, then perched grudgingly on the hood of the car. He had already called for a tow truck half an hour ago and he was still left waiting. His car had gone on fine for all of ten minutes, after that it had dwindled to a stop. The engine was screwed and he didn't know much about cars in the first place to try fixing it on the spot by himself.

A few more minutes passed by and by then Inuyasha was getting annoyed, where the hell was his tow truck? He flicked open his cell, ready to call the tow truck driver and give him a few choice words, when a vehicle pulled up next to his parked one.

Ah, well finally his tow truck had arrived.

A well built man, about in his forties hopped out of the truck and walked over to Inuyasha.

"You're the guy that needed his car picked up, am I right?" the man asked. His voice was a hoarse and gruff, which made it hard to understand him. It was probably from years of smoking, Inuyasha thought.

"Yeah, I am, unless you see any other people hanging around with a busted car, spending their time doing absolutely nothing." Inuyasha said apathetically.

"So, You're a sarcastic one are ya'?" The man asked crossing his arms over his muscled, broad chest.

Inuyasha sighed and smirked although he was in no mood for it, it had just become a habit in his life. "Yeah. And I'm also an impatient one, could you hurry up and tow my car or are we gonna chat and waste more time."

"I'm not here to tow your car kid." The man said glaring at Inuyasha for what he'd said earlier.

"I just came to tell you that I got some other business to take care of at home, so you'll have to call up someone else."

"Excuse me, but I've been waiting here for thirty damn minutes! I have to get home and I'm not going to hitch a ride."

"Fine kid," the man said taking out a cell phone from his oily jeans pocket. "I'll call up one of my pals to do it, but it'll take ya' another thirty minutes."

"Well, then forget about it." Inuyasha said. "I might as well take the subway."

"Okay then kid. The subway station is just up the street. Take a right, past the small convenience store." The man said getting into his truck and backing out of the empty lot.

Inuyasha locked up his car securely. He'd leave it here for now and then get it on his way to work next morning. He just hoped none of those gang kids would spot it, he was in no place to have his insurance increased.

Locking the last door of his car, Inuyasha looked around him. Now there was only the task of getting _to_ the subway. And that meant walking...

* * *

"What are you ordering?" Sango asked Kagome from behind her menu. "I'm getting the mozzarella lasagna with the lamb meatballs and spaghetti, I've only tried it once but it's pretty good."

Kagome bit her lip in concentration. She could barely read any of the Italian dishes, they all had such weird names. Kagome put her menu back down on the table in frustration.

"Umm, I'll just have a pepperoni pizza." She said in defeat. Sango looked up and laughed out loud at her, drawing attention from some of the other people seated in the restaurant.

"Kagome, I don't think they serve just pepperoni pizza here."

Kagome smiled sheepishly. "Yeah I know, but I haven't tried anything Italian other than pasta, and that makes me sick."

"Okay then, I'll choose for you." Sango said as she picked up her menu again.

"It better me something I can digest," Kagome said making a face. "Some of this stuff looks gross."

"Fine then. You like rice right? So I'll get you the vegetable and shellfish rice dish…oh and you'll really like the _grissini_. It's these really thin breadsticks and they taste great with some dip. And there's little bite size sausages shaped into squids."

Kagome looked on at Sango, who was still concentrating on the menu.

"Sango?" Kagome said quietly, her hand was playing idly with one of the roses that were set onto the tables. Kagome's mind had gone back to the talk with the talent show judge, and she was still musing over it.

"Hm?" Sango looked up from the menu again, looking expectantly at Kagome.

"What is it Kagome? Do you want something else with your grissini?"

Kagome quickly shook her head. "No, no it's not that. I..I just, well I feel really weird."

"About the grissini?" Sango questioned, raising an eyebrow. Kagome rolled her eyes giving Sango an exasperated look.

"Could we forget about the grissini?"

Sango smiled sheepishly pushing the menu away from her.

"Okay, okay, I'm listening. So, you're uh feeling weird, huh? About what?"

"I don't know, I guess it's about Yukoto and her offer. I mean I know I won't be able to go, no matter how many jobs I try to get, I know it's not going to work. But… there's this little part of me that knows that it's not possible, but it still wants to do anything to get into that school and there's no-"

Sango interrupted Kagome's heartfelt confession by chuckling softly. "Kagome," She began, "That little part of you is called hope. And you know what? You shouldn't give up, this is your one big chance and now way in hell am I going to let a girl with this much talent go to waste."

"Thanks Sango," Kagome said. "But what about my mom? I don't think I should tell her about this though. I know she'll just feel bad that I got such a good offer and she wasn't able to support it. And it's not even her fault, she's a single mother, she has to work full time to provide food and clothing for Souta and me. Plus grandpa is in the hospital and his bills aren't helping at all."

"Come on Kagome, where's that positive thinking girl that I met before huh? You have to tell your mom, she'll be so proud of you. And if there's well, money problems…you know I could always lend you a hand, maybe loan you some money, you know…" Sango trailed off when she saw the angry look her friend was directing at her.

"What?" She asked pretending innocence.

"No way." Kagome said folding her hands over her chest and leaning back in her chair. "Sango I am not taking money from you."

"Why not?" Sango asked upsetly, throwing her hands up in the air. Again, the people around their table shot each other troubled looks. Sango folded her hands in her lap, trying hard to keep them there.

"Why not Kagome?" she repeated herself, keeping her voice just above a whisper this time. "You're my best friend and good friends always loan each other money."

"Yeah friends loan each other money maybe to buy a burger or to go shopping or even to treat them to a dinner, but this is different Sango! We're talking about a lot of money and I don't want to take it from you!"

Sango was taken a bit back from Kagome's angry response. She knew that Kagome wasn't the type of person to take money from anyone, even if it was one of her closest friends, but she had just wanted to help. She knew what Kagome could do if she was just given the chance.

Sango's family had a lot of handy money and Sango didn't mind lending Kagome some just to get her going. After all, she'd already be going into the one of the colleges that her father was paying for. It was no problem.

Kagome herself had realized that what she'd said was a bit more than harsh, just as the words had left her mouth.

"Sango, I'm sorry…" Kagome said softly. "I just don't want you to loan me any money, I mean I would take it, if I could give it all back but I'm not even sure about that."

"It's okay." Sango said. "But are you sure that you don't need anything? You know, I'm always here for you."

"Yes I'm sure Sango. Now let's get back to our food…"

"Sango excitedly picked up her menu again. "Great, so what were you having again?"

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Review would be wonderful, but thanks for reading!


	2. Riding The Subway

Chapter Two: Riding The Subway

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Kagome loved the subway. It was because she had been on it so many times and had seen so many of the same faces, which she had now grown very accustomed to riding the train with. Many people took the place for granted, always hurrying about their busy lives and not bothering to notice all of the other people waiting for their train to stop. But there was just so much to stop and look at- so many people milling about and having conversations, couples holding hands, teenagers satisfied that they were finally able to go out by themselves and only Kagome was able to see it all.

For some people being in a crowd was uncomfortable and restless but Kagome had loved being around people all the time, what she hated was isolation. Many people liked a place where they could have some privacy but she felt as if it were necessary she were around a bunch of people, she kind of felt safer that way. But that wasn't the main reason she had urged her friend Sango to take a subway train either.

"I still can't believe that you've never been in a subway station or even been in a subway train!" She said again with astonishment.

Sango, who was standing with her on the platform where the passengers waited, was looking a bit uneasy.

After both of them had filled their stomachs with Italian food, which Kagome didn't find so bad after all, they were calling up a cab when Sango confessed to Kagome about never having been in the subway.

"Kagome that's the tenth time you've said that." Sango stated flatly peering over the edge of the platform and viewing the tracks with a slight distaste.

"Is that a rat?"

"You sound like you actually don't want to have a ride on this." Kagome said ignoring her friend and grinning.

"That's because really I don't." Sango pointed out once more. "Look we can still go back; I'll just call my mom to come pick us up."

"No way, I am so making you get onto the next train that comes our way." Kagome said with definiteness.

"Great." Sango grumbled. "You're making this sound like a fun roller coaster."

"It's not a roller coaster but I can guarantee that it is fun. Sango, wouldn't you love the feeling of being underground and travelling at such a fast speed? It'd almost be like we're flying…except we'd be underground… and not really flying…" Kagome trailed off uncertainly. "But hey, we'll still get home faster than we would driving."

There was a slow ringing bell to indicate the passengers that the subway train was coming and Kagome quickly squealed in surprise.

Grabbing Sango's arm she said, "It's here, look I can see the lights from the tunnel!"

Sango looked around her at the people who were looking pointedly their way, probably thinking why a teenage girl was so happy about taking a train.

"Kagome, cut it out!" Sango mumbled under her breath so that only her friend would hear. Kagome quickly looked around her, seeing what Sango had seen and blushed red. She smiled sheepishly to Sango who shook her head disdainfully but smiled in good humour.

There was rush of wind, sending Kagome's hair flying and Sango ducking her head. The train soon diminished to a stop and the doors opened to allow the passengers inside. Kagome stepped in the compartment with Sango trailing behind. Kagome took a seat beside a lady with shopping bags talking loudly on her phone, and Sango slid uneasily into her seat beside her.

"You'll love this Sango, I'm telling you." Kagome encouraged her.

"We'll see…" Sango said trailing off. Gradually as the train doors slid closed, the train began moving, slowly at first then faster and faster. Kagome felt giddy and excited, she kept glancing back at Sango to see her expression as well. Sango didn't look as uncomfortable as she did before but she didn't look anywhere near as excited as Kagome was.

"See?" Kagome asked closing her eyes and listening to the droning noise of the train whizzing through the underground tunnel with its incredible speed. "I told you it would be fun." Kagome grinned.

"Okay, I admit it's not that bad but I wouldn't really call it _fun_." Sango said in a teasing voice.

"Whatever, but it's you that's missing this not me." Kagome reasoned her eyes closing again.

"Oh wait!" Kagome cried startling Sango and earning a rude look from the lady on her phone.

"What? What's wrong?" Sango demanded, seeing the uneasiness on her friend's face.

"No! I can't believe I for got it…It has to be somewhere here." Kagome cried again and opened up her purse tossing things out and unzipping the small pockets.

"Tell me Kag? What'd you forget?" Sango asked cluelessly

"The card!" Kagome whined, "I forgot the stupid card at the restaurant! It's not in my purse…"

"You forgot the card? Are you sure, maybe you accidentally put it mine." Sango said and the two began looking in there. After emptying the whole bag inside out, Kagome was almost left with one thing to do.

Cry.

Putting her face in her hands she began to sob. "I'm the most, stupidest, idiotic person in the world!" Kagome wailed. Sango looked around uncertainly. Maybe right now wasn't a good idea to point out to her friend that 'stupidest' wasn't w word.

Some people were actually turning to view the scene in front of them, other passengers couldn't care less about a teenage girl crying her heart out on the city go train.

"Kagome…" Sango began but was cut off by Kagome's wails.

"Now how in the world am I going to call Yukoto…I have got to be the worlds all time biggest dumb ass!"

"But Kagome…"

"There's nothing I can do now Sango! And I wanted to go into that damned school so much!"

Sango rolled her eyes heavenward and took a deep breath. "Kagome you idiot, did you check in your pocket?" Sango cried finally getting Kagome's attention not to mention many other people around them.

Kagome stopped mid-sob, her mouth hanging open, she quickly reached into the front pocket of her jeans and pulled out the white pristine card. Kagome smiled sheepishly at Sango who was giving her a flat look.

"I found it…"

* * *

Inuyasha shook his head annoyed with the noises coming from the two teenage girls sitting opposite to him. For the past ten minutes they'd done three things: Make noise, cry, yell and make more noise. He didn't know what in the world they were talking about and he didn't care. He was busy reading the Tokyo Times that he'd bought while walking to the subway station. He was tired now, not from the walk but because he knew of what the next day would bring. A whole lot of fuckin' chaos.

The noise from the two girls in front of him abruptly stopped and he inwardly sighed. But then the noise started up again as the two girls began arguing between each other.

"…I was telling you to look in there, but you just went on crying, Kagome you're darned hilarious!"

"Stop laughing Sango, it wasn't that funny!"

"Oh yes it was!"

"If you keep laughing, I won't talk to you."

"Well, it's not my fault, it's hard _not_ to laugh. You should have seen the look on your face!"

Inuyasha sighed again. "Overly dramatic teenagers…" he muttered to himself going back to his newspaper.

"That's it Sango, I'm not sitting next to you anymore!" came an angry female voice. There was a rustling movement and a 'thump' as someone plopped down into the seat next to his.

Inuyasha glanced at the person beside him; it was the teenager that was sitting in front of him before, though the girl's face was turned the other way.

Inuyasha turned, once again, back to his newspaper. There was actually an article about Kikyo and how she was going to be in the- Inuyasha groaned inwardly. The stupid girl beside him had shut up but now she was fidgeting too damned much. She kept tapping her foot on the ground and laying her head back against the seat, fiddling with the arm rest and what not.

"Do you mind?" He asked in annoyance, putting his newspaper down and facing the girl. The girl turned around and smiled timidly.

"Uh sorry," she said, and then looked at him curiously. "…Are you okay?"

Inuyasha's jaw was hanging open and his eyes were saucers. Regaining his senses with a shake of his head, he got up, his newspaper falling to the ground.

"Kikyo what the hell are you doing here?" he demanded, a look of true bewilderment in his eyes.

"Excuse me?" Kagome said giving him a confused look. Inuyasha looked her up and down then jerked her up so she was standing.

"What the hell are you doing out of the hospital?" Inuyasha repeated. "…And why the hell aren't you in your cast?"

Kagome jerked her arm away from the man's grasp. He was obviously mistaken; she wasn't this Kikyo person he was talking about.

"I'm sorry I don't know what you're talking about, so stop touching me!" Kagome cried and took a step back from him. Sango stood up too but was frozen in her spot, obviously as confused as everyone else was.

"Stop playing games Kikyo and come on!" Inuyasha grabbed hold of her hand again, but Kikyo kept on squirming around. Was it just him or did her voice sound a lot more high-pitched?

"I'm not Kikyo so let me go!" the girl screamed again. By now everyone in their compartment was watching with interest at what was going on in front of them.

"Yes you - wait a second…you're not her…" Inuyasha muttered suddenly realizing his mistake. He'd just grabbed hold of a whole different girl. She was a little shorter than the real Kikyo, her eyes were a lighter shade of brown and her hair was also styled differently. How could he have not noticed…

"Of course, I'm not!" Kagome cried angrily tearing her hand away from the man again. The man took a step back from her a dazed look on his face. Kagome kept staring at him in her own confused way. He'd mistaken her for someone else that much she knew.

"Damn, I think I'm losing it." Inuyasha muttered shaking his head as he lowered himself to his seat. The girl was still standing and peering at him intently but he ignored it and looked away.

"Aren't you going to apologize?" she asked peevishly.

"For what?" He asked looking her way. The girl looked at the seat beside him and after a moment of hesitation, sat down.

"For mistaking me for this Kikyo girl, for causing a big scene on the subway and for scaring me out of my wits for starters." The girl stated pointedly.

"Oh yeah, well sorry." Inuyasha snorted not really meaning it. He frowned at her. "You look awfully a lot like Kikyo, you know, Kikyo Kinto?"

The girl beside him blushed lightly, her anger fading as she fiddled with her hands in her lap. "You think I look like her? She's a model right?"

"Mm." Inuyasha hummed, his attention wasn't on the girl anymore, he was back to reading his paper, totally unfazed by what had just gone down minutes before.

"So if Kikyo Kinto was really here, you'd treat her like that?" Kagome went on. He guy turned to look quizzically at her again. "I mean, pulling her arm out of her socket like you were doing with me…" she explained sarcastically.

Kagome had no idea why she was talking to some complete stranger, not to mention a stranger who had just mistaken her for a famous model. Maybe he just some big whacked up fan of Kikyo's…or something…

Inuyasha gave the girl a look then nodded. "Actually I would."

Kagome smiled. "And I suppose that's because you're her boyfriend." She said. More sarcasm.

"No…I'm her agent…and she's my client and…why are you talking to me anyway?"

Kagome shrugged innocently and decided to ignore his question. "You're not her agent." She stated.

Inuyasha turned a peevish look on her. "Oh yeah, why is that?" he asked with a fake smile plastered over his face.

"You wouldn't be riding in the city subway train, you'd be going home in a limo." She said as if that was obvious.

"I wish! Us agents don't get paid that much you know." The man groused, carelessly flipping through the newspaper again. "Just because the stinking models are rich pricks with giant wallets doesn't mean we are too, God knows how crappy my car is and-

"Do you really think I look like her?" Kagome interrupted suddenly.

"Like who?"

"You know, um Kikyo…"

"Oh her, yeah…" Inuyasha nodded. "You're a bit shorter I guess and your eye colour is different but other than that if you replaced her, not one damn person would know."

Kagome blushed red and played with her fingers again. "Thanks, I mean I've never really received a compliment like that." She said earnestly. Kagome looked up to see that the man (she didn't even know his name) wasn't even paying attention to her, in fact, he looked as if he were deep in thought.

"Um, hello?" Kagome asked tentatively. She peered curiously at the absent-minded boy. "Are you okay Mr. Agent Man?"

"…not one person would know…" he breathed out.

Kagome scrunched up her eyebrows. "Not one person would know what?"

Inuyasha shook his head snapping out of his reverie and looked seriously at the girl next to him. She was going to be the ticket to his next paycheck.

"Are you free tomorrow afternoon?" he blurted.

"What?" Kagome asked bluntly. It sounded like he wanted to ask her out!

"Look, my name is Inuyasha I'm Kikyo Kinto's agent and I want to offer you a chance that could change your life." He declared in a flash.

"What?" Kagome repeated dumbfounded.

"Here's my card, you can call me anytime, and the address of my office is on the card too." He looked down at her, suddenly realizing she was still confused.

"Look, I know you don't really believe that I'm Kikyo's agent but call me, this is very important...what's your name by the way?"

"Uh…Kagome…Higurashi, but what does that have to do with anything?"

Just then the ringing of the train signaled for a stop and the man named Inuyasha looked towards the train doors.

"That's my stop and I have to get home, just call me and I'll explain everything to you but look…uh…

"Kagome." She supplied for him

"Yes, Kagome, just remember that this could be the chance of a lifetime for you and you don't want to miss out on this okay?"

Kagome nodded dumbly still not catching on to what was going on.

Inuyasha gave a small wave then quickly strode down the train's aisle and out the two sliding doors nearly making it before the doors swished close, leaving Kagome sitting on her seat with a thousand questions running in her mind.

She looked down at the card in her hands then across her to where Sango was sitting, with her eyebrows raised in curiosity.

A chance of a life time, huh?

* * *

"Do you think I should call?" Kagome asked curiously. She was swinging her legs back and forth from her seat on the park bench. It was her lunch break and Sango had come to visit.

"Of course you should call!" Sango replied enthusiastically. "Yukoto did say that you should call her as soon as you could."

"No, not about the dance school, I meant to ask if should I call the guy we met on the train."

"You're more worried about that than you are about Yukoto's offer?" Sango asked incredulously.

"No, it's just that I'm curious…the guy did say he wanted to talk to me. What if it's about something important?"

"You've got a point," Sango said taking a big bite of her cheese burger. "but what if he's just some messed up freak who thinks he's some big time agent? I don't think you should want to get involved in that."

"But he didn't seem like he was lying…he seemed a bit weird I have to admit, but I don't think he was lying. Plus, he gave me his card…this can't be fake right?"

"Kagome, people make fake cards all the time, so that doesn't mean this guy didn't fake a card."

"But I really want to call him…" Kagome whined.

"Fine then, go ahead I'm not really stopping you. But when this guy starts following you and stalking you and knows where you live and what you eat and who your friends are and what you wear and what color your PJ's are and even your cat's name and then turns out to be a part time kidnapper and a part time killer …don't come running back to me."

There was a moment of silence as Kagome stared peculiarly at Sango.

Sango laughed nervously.

"Joke Kagome, just a joke…"

* * *

Reviews would be awesome! ;)


	3. Finding Solutions

**Chapter 3: Finding Solutions**

**

* * *

**

"…And so that's how I got _this_ offer." Kagome finished with a deep breath as she held up the small white card.

"I'm sorry Kagome, I'm still confused," Mrs. Higurashi said as she turned off the stove and grabbed a cloth to wipe her hands on. "Can you run that by me again?"

"Aw mom, that was so long, weren't you listening?" Kagome whined.

"No, I was listening," Mrs. Higurashi assured, "It's just that I'm confused….so you met the lady with the silver hair on the bus and you met the talent show judge at the restaurant?"

Kagome sighed taking a seat. "No mom," she said wearily. Maybe she shouldn't have told both stories at once...

"After the talent show," _Which I won… _"One of the judges there who just happened to work at the dance school in Kyoto, well…she offered me an entry."

"Well, have you called yet?" her mother asked taking a seat beside Kagome at the kitchen table.

"Um, no." Kagome said playing with the placemats.

"Why not?" Mrs. Higurashi questioned frowning slightly. Kagome shrugged her shoulders and gave a wary grin.

"I dunno, I just didn't think that you know…we could afford it."

"Kagome," Mrs. Higurashi said placing her hand over her daughters on the kitchen table. "Do you really want to get into that dance school?" she asked lightly, looking her teenage daughter in the eye.

Kagome looked down at her lap, trying to avert her mother's stare. She could always lie, couldn't she? Kagome did not want her mother to feel bad that she wasn't able to provide the money for Kagome to get into the school…but then again, she really did want to, and this was like a once-in-a-lifetime offer!

"Yeah mom, I really do want to." Kagome said truthfully. She'd never lied to her mother before and she wasn't going to start the habit either. Kagome looked at her mother expectantly. A part of her knew that her mom would say something along the lines of: "Honey, I'm really sorry…but our family just wouldn't be able to afford something like that…". But a little part of her wanted to hear the opposite but really, who was she kidding? The whole dance school thing would never happen. It probably was never meant for her in the first place.

"Honey," Mrs. Higurashi began and Kagome let a soft sigh escape her, knowing for sure then that her mother would say no. "You're right, I don't think we can afford to-"

"I know mom," Kagome rushed in, not waiting for her mother to finish. "we don't have the money for it and it doesn't matter anyway because I don't need to get into a dance school, there's many other great schools out here in Japan and I'm sure that they won't be as expensive as this one, and this dance school _is_ expensive, don't worry at all mom, I understand."

Mrs. Higurashi looked at her daughter with a slight smile playing across her lips.

"Kagome, are you done?" she asked. Kagome shrugged one shoulder, just realizing she'd been blabbering.

"Uh…yeah."

"Kagome dear, as I was saying, you were right about how our family wouldn't be able to afford to pay your entry fees…_but_, that doesn't mean you can't get into the school at all. And that doesn't mean I won't even try to get you into the school."

"Mom, are you serious?" Kagome asked incredulously. Mrs. Higurashi gave a nod of her head, assuring Kagome's question.

"But are you sure? Because I really won't do this if you don't want me to?" Kagome asked again.

Mrs. Higurashi let out a soft chuckle. Seeing Kagome so worked up about this dance school made her happy. It made her feel as if her daughter was doing something with her life and it felt good.

"Grab the phone for me dear," Mrs. Higurashi said, "and let's have a talk with this Yukoto woman."

"Aw, I love you mom!" Kagome squealed and leapt up to wrap the older woman in a tight embrace.

Yeah, Sango was right; things would work out after all.

* * *

Things were definitely not working out….

Inuyasha gazed up at the tiny crack in the ceiling, glaring at it for all it was worth. Well actually, it wasn't really worth much at all seeing as he was only glaring at the crack because he had nothing better to do.

It was a Saturday, a boring, full of bull-shit Saturday. And because it was a Saturday, there was no work and because Inuyasha was a workaholic, he was as useless as a two-year-old figuring out taxes.

Basically, he had no life.

Inuyasha yawned loudly and kicked his feet up on the couch. He continued staring at the crack in the ceiling but every now and then reached out his hand to grab a peanut or two to pop into his mouth. He felt pretty comfortable; even though he had his neck craned all the way back so he could see the ceiling. But unfortunately, he was startled out of his compromising position when the doorbell rang.

With a grunt of annoyance, he got up and crossed the length of the room to the door of his small apartment. Pulling open the door, Inuyasha instantly let out a weary sigh.

"What the hell are _you_ doing here Miroku?" Inuyasha groaned out, more to himself than Miroku.

The said man smiled warmly at him, showing off his perfect teeth. "Good morning Inuyasha," he said cheerfully. "I just thought I would stop by and say hi."

"I'm busy," Inuyasha grouched as he began to close the door on Mirkou's face. "Get lost."

Miroku stuck his foot in between the door and himself in a very 'I'm an annoying business man trying to sell you something' way, allowing Inuyasha to stop and look at him blankly.

"Come on Inuyasha," Miroku said his smile slowly returning. "You and I both know that all you were doing was lying on your couch and having a staring contest with that crack on your ceiling."

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at the man. "Hey, just because we work in the same building, for the same person doesn't mean you know me." He said apathetically.

"Yes, but the fact that we went to high school together does." Miroku stated happily.

"Point," Inuyasha sighed and swung the door open wide enough so that Miroku could get in, which the other man did without haste. "Come in," Inuyasha drolled. "Just don't make yourself comfortable."

Miroku ignored his last remark. "So how's life, Inuyasha?" Miroku asked as he took off his coat and draped it across Inuyasha's arm without concern. He turned around and viewed the apartment, looking around for any changes around the place, but found none. "You know Inuyasha, you should really do something with this place." He stated helpfully and began to walk into the direction of living room to find him a seat.

Inuyasha stood frozen in his spot, glaring at Mirkou's retreating back. Looking at his friend's jacket in his hands, he snorted and dropped it on the floor. "I let him in my house and he treats me like a coat rack." Inuyasha muttered aloud.

He made his way into the living room to find Miroku sitting comfortably on the couch, flipping through the channels on the television.

Miroku looked up at Inuyasha and once again smiled widely. "The weather's nice today isn't it?" he asked. Inuyasha rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Oh, shut up Miroku and get to the point. You got into a fight with her didn't you?"

"A fight?" Miroku questioned innocently. "With who?"

Inuyasha plopped himself on the couch beside Miroku, snatching the remote control out of his hands and turning the T.V. off.

"With Sango, who else?"

Miroku's smile faltered quickly. "Uh, why would you say that…?" He asked looking away.

"Miroku, I know you just as much as you know me." Inuyasha pointed out. "Although that's not a very good thing…"

"Okay, you're right….I did have a fight with her." Miroku blurted, not hearing Inuyasha's small remark.

"About what?" Inuyasha asked. He didn't really care that much but if he didn't get Miroku's problem solved he would be find his little friends smiling face around his home quite often.

"Well, first off all let me tell you it wasn't at all my fault." Miroku rushed in.

"Yeah, yeah just get on with it!" Inuyasha urged propping his feet onto the ottoman in front of him.

"Sango wanted me to come to dinner with her family and I said no." Miroku sighed and looked at Inuyasha expectantly waiting for a reaction. Inuyasha raised an eyebrow in question.

"So?" he asked bluntly, forgetting for a moment that he was talking to an over-the-edge Miroku.

"So she got mad and told me she was never going to talk to me until I was man enough to face her parents!" Miroku cried burying his face into his hands dramatically.

"C'mon Miroku, suck it up and be a man." Inuyasha said half-heartedly.

Miroku narrowed his greyish-purple eyes at Inuyasha who really didn't seem to notice.

"That's just great of you Inuyasha," Miroku grumbled. "Saying the same thing Sango said."

"Oh woops," Inuyasha chuckled, "Sorry about that."

"Inuyasha, you are such a block head." Miroku sighed. His tense shoulders rolled back on the couch and he closed his eyes wearily. A stressed silence passed over the two but was finally broken when Miroku spoke up.

"So Inuyasha, talk about something, if I have to hear one more moment of silence I'll suffocate myself with that cushion under your butt." He groaned.

"Say, Miroku, these peanuts are great aren't they? Inuyasha said playing along as he pointed to the small plastic bowl.

"Inuyasha, they're mixed snacks, not peanuts." Miroku pointed out.

"Whatever, they're nuts to me." Inuyasha shrugged nonchalantly, popping another salted snack into his mouth.

"O-Kay…change of topic." Miroku said. He got off the couch to stand in front of Inuyasha. "Hm…let's see, what's there to talk about?"

"Why?" Inuyasha asked putting on a hurt expression. "What's wrong with my nuts?"

Miroku shook his head in disappointment. "Inuyasha, you and your dry humor…oh hey!" He looked at Inuyasha with curiosity.

"What have you decided to do about Kikyo's leg? Are we cancelling the photo shoot?" he asked.

Inuyasha shook his head in aggravation. "No, if we cancelled the photo shoot we'd be cancelling much more than that. The main reason we're doing the shoot is because Kikyo has to be entered in the fashion show and she won't be if Mike what's-his-face doesn't meet her."

"So…what will we do?" Miroku asked once again bouncing back to his seat. His mood had changed and he was no more worried about his own problems.

Inuyasha smirked hinting to the young man that he had a plan. "I've got that figured all out." Inuyasha said proudly.

"Would you care to explain?" Miroku asked getting more interested by the second.

"Well, I was going home yesterday after leaving the hospital and then my car broke down and then on the subway I met this girl that totally looked like Kikyo." Inuyasha explained with a smug smile.

Miroku groaned and rolled his eyes. "You're not a very good story teller Inuyasha," he criticized. "I still don't get your point. What does meeting a girl that looks like Kikyo have to do with Kikyo herself?"

"Miroku, my simple minded friend...don't you get it?" After receiving a blank look from the man he continued on.

"Okay, you see… while I was on the subway with the Kikyo look-alike, I got an idea. Since the girl resembled Kikyo so much I thought, why not replace her with Kikyo until Kikyo gets better? Who'll know the difference, right?"

Miroku chewed his lip in thought, not saying anything for a while.

"Well?" Inuyasha asked expectantly.

"Inuyasha, I don't know how you do it…."

"I know, I know, I'm brilliant aren't I?" Inuyasha cut in haughtily.

"…but your ideas suck." Miroku finished ignoring Inuyasha's remark.

"What do you mean? My idea's great, I mean could you have ever thought of that?"

"That's not it," Miroku said shaking his head. " It's just not going to work, how old was this girl? And not only that, how will she know how to act like Kikyo, walk like her, even talk like her?"

"I don't know…we'll get some one to teach her and she's not that young either. But man, you should see her…it's like she's Kikyo's long lost twin."

"Inuyasha, you and I both know that either thirty year old women take the subway or high school students." Miroku reminded him.

"Oh Miroku stop being so logical." Inuyasha groaned.

"Well, this is our job if we're not going to be smart about this then who is? And you're Kikyo's agent, you're just going to risk something like that?"

"Whatever, but it's better than waiting till' Kikyo's leg heals and then finding out its too late for the show and that we'll have to try out next year!" Inuyasha pinched the bridge of his nose in thought.

"Fine, you're the boss anyway." Miroku said sighing.

"Lets just give this a try, okay? I mean if it doesn't start out too well, we'll just finish it."

"Okay…so are you going to call the girl or what?"

"I gave her my card, don't worry she'll call me." Inuyasha remarked.

"And if she doesn't?" Miroku prodded. He was beginning to think Inuyasha was losing it…totally.

Inuyasha smiled sheepishly. "Uhh, I never thought of that."

Miroku shook his head in disappointment. "And you call yourself an agent?"

"Oh shut up Miroku," Inuyasha dismissed. "My stop had come and I had to leave."

"Right, so what _are_ you going to do?"

"We'll just have to wait and see if she does call, and if she doesn't your wish comes true."

"Then believe me," Miroku said with firmness, "She won't."

* * *

Reeeeeviieewww please.


	4. A Trip Downtown

**Chapter 4: A trip Downtown**

* * *

"Sango!"

The said young girl mumbled incoherently in her sleep and turned on her side to get comfortable.

""Sango!" The voice yelled again. It seemed to be coming from far away, or from another room. Sango ignored it, she was having the perfect dream and she wasn't about to let reality burst her bubble.

As she lay on the bed in her spacious room she could hear the distant sound of someone stomping up the stairs. The sound of footsteps stopped at her door and it was thrust open by one very angry looking young boy.

"Are you deaf Sango?" Kohaku cried crossing his arms as he turned on the light switch and illuminated the room.

The light assaulting her vision, Sango squinted up at her younger brother.

"What do you want?" she asked sitting upright and straightening out her PJ's.

"There's a call for you." Kohaku stated simply and turned over the cordless phone in his hand to her.

"Who is it?" Sango asked drowsily before taking the call.

Kohaku shrugged his shoulders. "How am I supposed to know?" he asked. "It's a girl that's for sure."

Sango sighed, muttering under her breath. "It's Kagome."

Kohaku shrugged again then turned and began to walk out of the room. He stopped suddenly and turned back.

"And Sango, tell your friends to call you on your own phone, Mom bought you a cell phone for a reason you know."

Sango rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Get out of my room." She grumbled half-heartedly.

Kohaku stuck out his tongue at his older sister and happily left the room.

"Hey Kagome," Sango greeted her sleep wearing off.

"How did you know it was me?" Kagome questioned, laughing from the other end.

"C'mon, who else calls me this late at night?" Sango said.

"Point." Kagome agreed.

"So, who died now?" Sango asked sarcastically combing out the tangles in her hair with her fingers.

"Who said its bad news?" Kagome chirped and it was obvious from her voice that she was definitely happy. Kagome didn't wait for an answer and blurted out the event.

"You won't believe it but my mom called Yukoto today!" she squealed happily.

"Really?" Sango asked in surprise. "I thought you said your mom wouldn't go along with all of this."

"I did think that," Kagome said, "But she actually said that she would try her best to get me into the school."

"That's great!" Sango said. She was happy for Kagome. The girl had so much potential and she couldn't stand to see it wasted. The university would be a great opportunity for her to get the attention she deserved.

"So then my mom called Yukoto up and they talked for hours. Mom told me that Yukoto agreed about letting my mother pay the admission fees in installments instead of all at once."

"Cool, now you're a shoe-in for the University." Sango said.

"Yeah, I'm glad this is all over with" Kagome sighed gladly.

"Yeah, so what else is new?"

"Not much, my whole day consisted of me jumping in joy." Kagome laughed.

Sango laughed too, "Hey what did your mom say about that guy on the bus? I bet she said the same thing I did, didn't she?"

"Oh, I really forgot about that, I didn't even tell her." Kagome said. "Or wait…actually I did but I don't think she really understood me..."

"Well, that's good then." Sango said, "Your mom doesn't have to know about it if you're _not_ going to meet the guy again."

"Who said I wasn't going to meet him?"

"I'm going to make sure you won't go to meet the guy. I mean c'mon Kagome, you don't know him, and no joke this time, he really could turn out to be some weirdo."

"Yeah, but he said he was Kikyo Shinto's agent! Do you know what that means?" Kagome said excitedly.

"He could be making that up, just like the card and wait a second, why would the agent of Japan's most famous model be riding the subway huh?"

"I don't know, but that's why I want to go…I'm just curious…" Kagome said.

"You don't even like Kikyo Kinto…" Sango reminded her. "And I know you're not the type to follow others."

"Yeah, but Yuka, Ayumi, and Eri all idolize her and they'd kill me if they found out I had a chance like this and never took it." Kagome explained.

"And what if you get hurt or lost or something?" Sango pointed out.

"Yeah, well I'm 16, I'm a tough girl, and I can take care of myself." Kagome huffed.

"Right," Sango laughed. "Says the girl who takes me with her everywhere." teased Sango.

"Exactly! _You_ can come with _me_ tomorrow and we'll both go see the guy." Kagome said as if that was the big solution.

"Not a chance!" Sango declared shaking her head vigorously. "I am not going with you to see some wanna-be agent or something, this is ridiculous."

"Please Sango?" Kagome begged. "Or I'll have to go by myself…"

Sango gave a sigh of defeat. "I can't imagine what you're mother has to deal with everyday…" she grumbled.

Kagome's grin was practically visible from the other end of the phone. "Thanks Sango! You're the best." She gushed.

"I'm only doing this because I wouldn't be able to live with myself if your picture came up on the side of a milk carton…"

* * *

Even though Kagome wouldn't admit it to her, she did actually believe what Sango had to say about Inuyasha, or according to Sango, the part time serial killer. She didn't exactly believe that the guy she met on the subway was actually Kikyo Shinto's agent either, but all those thoughts seemed to disappear as she stood gazing at the huge six-story building in front of her.

"Kagome," Sango said nudging her slightly. "Are you sure this is the right place?"

Kagome snapped out of her trance and quickly glance down at the card in her hands.

"Yeah, this is it. 733 Sunshine Boulevard."

"Okay, then what are we waiting for, let's go inside and meet Mister Serial killer." Sango said sarcastically. Kagome rolled her eyes, it seemed like her friend was still not up to the idea of meeting a complete stranger.

Sango parked her car and they both got out and into the busy downtown street. Now Kagome was thinking this had to be something important since the building was located in downtown Tokyo. That was where _everything_ happened. All the business, the trade, the factories, the media, it was all here.

The two girls entered through the main doors and walked into what seemed like a huge reception room.

"Wow." Sango said, "it's not a bad place."

"Not a bad place?" Kagome asked bewildered, "It's awesome!" She looked around the room and even though it was just a waiting room, it looked like something out of those business magazines.

The room was set up with a rich, red carpet and white tiled floors. There were many chairs aligned in rows in different corners of the room and in each corner was a mini flat screen t.v. and coffee machine.

"Excuse me, can I help you two ladies?"

Sango and Kagome quickly turned around to see a tall young woman with a smile that could have sold millions for toothpaste commercials.

"Yeah, we came to meet Inuyasha, he told us to come to this place…" Kagome said handing over the card to the woman.

Her smile only turned bigger, "Oh I see, I'm not exactly sure but I think he was waiting for a visitor. Just wait here and I'll page him to come right down." She said reassuringly and went back to her desk.

Kagome turned to Sango with a look that said, "I told you so".

Sango sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Okay fine, you were right there is a guy named Inuyasha who could be Kikyo's agent, but what were the odds of that?"

Kagome just smiled and shook her head.

* * *

"Miroku, stop squeezing that!" Inuyasha growled.

"What?" Miroku asked innocently as he stopped pacing and stopped at Inuyasha's desk. "It's a stress reliever, and I'm stressed. What else can I do but squeeze it?"

"Dammit, Miroku you make everything you say sound sick." Inuyasha said shaking his head.

"No, it's just that you think sick thoughts, therefore whatever I say sounds sick to you." Miroku explained with a grin.

"Shut up." Inuyasha grunted half-heartedly.

"So, did you get a reply from that Mike Claire guy yet?"

"Yeah, he said he can't wait another three weeks and he's not re-scheduling. Stupid prick."

Miroku walked around to get behind Inuyasha's desk and peered over his shoulder to see what he was looking at.

"He sent you a letter?" Miroku asked critically. "That's so last century, now the only way to communicate is e-mails and text messages."

"Last chance Miroku, shut up or-"

"Okay, Okay!" Miroku said holding up his hands. "Calm down Mister Miserable."

"I'm not miserable." Inuyasha snapped.

"You sure, you seem to be missing Kikyo a lot lately…" Miroku snickered.

"That was your last chance," Inuyasha remarked dangerously and picked up the nearest object to him…a stapler and began to throw it at the helpless Miroku when his phone rang and his arm froze in mid-throw.

With a last glare directed to Miroku, he turned and picked up the phone.

"What?" he greeted roughly.

"Mr. Inuyasha, there are two young ladies waiting for you in the lobby, they say they have an appointment with you…"

"Two young ladies?" Inuyasha asked uncertainly.

"Two young ladies?" Miroku echoed happily having heard Inuyasha.

"Yes, I have them in the waiting room, should I send them up?"

"No wait, I'll be down there in a sec." Inuyasha said and hung up.

"I'll go with you!" Miroku said scrambling towards the door with glee. Obviously he was overjoyed about the 'Two young ladies' comment.

"Noo…you'll wait your sorry ass in here." Inuyasha ordered turning narrowing his eyes at the young man. "I wouldn't want you to scare off whoever the helpless visitors are, now would I?" He opened the door and stepped out closing the door in an obvious manner.

Inside Miroku slumped on a chair looking to all the world like a pouting six-year old.

* * *

When Inuyasha had gotten the message from downstairs, he wasn't exactly expecting to meet the young school girl he'd met on the subway and her best friend, actually he'd been expecting anything but. Possibly the two nurses he'd hired for Kikyo who apparently was a little too picky about which kind of nurses she wanted looking after her. To him it sounded like bull and a load of money going to waste, but it was Kikyo and how could he ever deny her?

The doors to the elevator slid open and he stepped out and made his way down to the lobby.

_Stupid Kikyo…_ He muttered mentally and shook his head. At times he wanted nothing to do with her, she pissed him off that much, but there were moments when he would go crazy if he didn't see her enough. In truth, it wasn't actually her to blame, it was no one but him, and he was putting his self through it all.

"Maniko, you said there were some girls here to meet me?" Inuyasha asked the receptionist.

"Yes Mr. Inuyasha, they're waiting over there." Maniko said not looking up from her work as she pointed out the direction. Inuyasha followed her finger and stopped when he saw two girls seated in the waiting chairs, their back facing him.

"Aren't you two supposed to be in uniform?" Inuyasha asked with one eyebrow cocked as he approached the two.

Kagome jumped at the voice behind her and Sango whipped her head around to look at him wide-eyed.

Kagome soon did the same as she got over the fright.

"You!" Inuyasha half screamed half questioned the startled schoolgirl. What happened to calling him first and making an appointment? He had given her his card for a reason, not so she could catch him off guard, he wasn't even totally sure this was going to work or not. He had definitely not been expecting to see the Kikyo-look-alike in front of him, but there she was looking at him as if she'd been caught smuggling drugs.

"Eh…Hello." Kagome offered, totally at a loss of what to say.

"You're that girl from the subway." Inuyasha said, more to himself than to the two girls.

"Yeah, uh…I'm Kagome…" Kagome introduced uncertainly and glanced over at Sango. "And this is my friend-"

"Never mind about that," Inuyasha interrupted, waving it aside. Sango in turn, glared frostily at the silver haired hanyou.

Inuyasha turned his look at Kagome, not noticing Sango's angry glare. "I thought you would have the decency to call before you came so I would get a chance to explain things but whatever, you're here now and it's probably best to make the deal in person."

Now it was Kagome's turn to glare. What was this guy's problem? Where did he go off insulting her and her friend even five minutes before their conversation began!

Holding in a nasty remark, (her mother had always taught her to never open her mouth unless it was to say something nice…) she stuttered.

"Wh-what deal?"

"Follow me, I have a lot of explaining." Inuyasha said and lead the way to his office.

When they were a safe distance away from the unruly agent Sango graciously elbowed Kagome in the side.

"I told you he was going to be a jerk!" Sango scowled.

"You never said that!" Kagome argued.

"Yeah, but I would have if I knew!"


	5. And the Change Begins

**Chapter Five: And the Change Begins**

* * *

"Come on in ladies," Inuyasha drolled coming to a stop at the door to his office.

Kagome sucked in a breath glancing at Sango out of the corner of here eye. She noticed that her friend was still peeved about Inuyasha's attitude by the way she was glaring at the guys back.

Inuyasha pushed open the door, holding it open for the two girls as he gestured them to step in. Both girls looked surprised as this was his first sign of any kindness.

Kagome noticed another young man in the room. He was bent over a piece of paper, scribbling something onto it, so his back was facing the three of them.

"Hey Houshi," Inuyasha began and the young man turned to face the two guests with a charming smile on his face.

Sango's face fell and luckily for her, Kagome hadn't noticed it.

"Sango!" Miroku blurted out when he saw the woman, thoroughly confused. "What are you doing here?"

"You two know each other?" Kagome asked. Sango's mouth was slightly hung open and her eyes darted around the room to anywhere but Kagome. Her eyes then landed on Miroku's and she gave him the 'don't-say-a-word-or-I'll-kill-you' look.

Miroku however, was way too slow to understand.

"Well of course we-" Miroku began but was cut off from Sango.

"We've never met each other at all." Sango lied, glaring at Miroku.

Inuyasha, who was watching all this go on with mild amusement finally decided to put his two-cents in.

"So wait, _you're_ Sango?" he asked shaking his head and trying not to laugh." Man you should see how much Miroku talks about you. He jus won't-"

"Would someone tell me what's going on?" Kagome's quiet voice questioned, but everyone seemed to ignore it.

"Miroku, you told him?" Sango all but screamed. "How could you tell anyone, it was supposed to be a secret!"

"What was supposed to be a secret?" Kagome asked yet again as she watched the conversation go back and forth between Sango and Miroku. She really had no idea what was going on.

"That I'm her boyfriend." Miroku stated proudly.

"Oh my god, Miroku! There you go again; I thought we agreed that no one was supposed to know about this!" Sango growled.

"Sango, you have a boyfriend and you didn't even tell me?"

Sango turned around to Kagome. "Please don't be mad Kagome I just couldn't find the perfect time and I just didn't know how to bring it up, It jus didn't seem so important…"

"How can this not be important? You had a boyfriend for god's sake, and here I've been, happily thinking that at least I wasn't the only one single!" Kagome cried in frustration.

"What do you mean our relationship is not important?" Miroku's asked and a hundred questions flew back and forth around the room until finally Inuyasha had had enough.

"WOULD YOU ALL JUST SHUT UP AND SIT DOWN SO WE CAN TALK ABOUT THIS!"

For one moment there was silence in the room and everyone simultaneously let out an aggravated sigh.

"O-kay, that was creepy."

* * *

"…and when he finally got the courage and asked me to go out with him, I just said yes and that's the end of it."

Sango looked at Kagome, hear eyes pleading with her to approve. Kagome was quiet for just a second until she burst out into fits of laughter.

"You guys actually met at a funeral?" Kagome shook her head, the smile still on her face. "Wow, that was hilarious."

Sango let out a small chuckle at her expense, she was just glad that Kagome wasn't pissed off at her. "Yea I guess it was kind of funny…"

"How come you didn't know Miroku worked here though?" Kagome asked curiously." I mean you guys have been going out for about three month's right?"

"Yea, I just thought that it would be better to tell her as a surprise." Miroku commented from his seat on the desk.

…. It was more like a heart attack." Sango said dryly.

"Now that this overrated soap opera is cleared up, can we please get to the task at hand?" Inuyasha asked with irritation.

All eyes turned on him and he cleared his throat as he looked at Kagome.

"I know you probably thought I was a whack job when I was talking to you on the subway-"

"Actually, we thought you were a deranged murderer or rapist." Kagome commented with a shrug.

"…well anyways," Inuyasha continued. "I called you down here today because I'd like to make a deal with you."

"Um, and what kind of deal would that be?" Kagome asked, half curiously and half suspiciously.

"I'm sure you've heard of the super model Kikyo Kinto right? Well I'm Inuyasha Taisho, her private manager and agent. Yesterday she broke her leg in a small car accident and won't be able to get out of bed for a while."

"And what exactly does this have to do with me?" she questioned.

"I was getting to that," Inuyasha snapped. "I had a photo shoot scheduled for her for tomorrow but since she isn't allowed out of bed for around two weeks, it'll have to be cancelled. But then, yesterday when I saw you on the bus and saw the resemblance between you two I knew I had the solution to our problem."

"You mean…"

"Yes, I want you to look and act like Kikyo Kinto for just two weeks and in exchange you can get paid the same amount that she would."

Kagome laughed. "You're not serious are you? This is just crazy, I'm not a model, never have been and I have no experience. I don't even look anything like her."

"Believe me, you look a lot like her. Some make-up and a haircut and no one would be able to tell the difference."

"I-I don't know…" Kagome said looking to Sango for help. "I'm not sure I'd be able to pull that off. And isn't that illegal? To impersonate someone else?" she asked suspiciously.

"Not when you have their permission," Inuyasha replied. "And plus, it's just for the public, after this, no one will need to know anything."

Kagome looked to Sango once again.

"Kagome, I have to say this is actually not a very bad idea. I mean wow, you'll get paid a lot, a model's salary must be very big. And with all the money you'll make you can get into the Kyoto Dance Academy. If you take up this job, you're mom would be free of working double shifts and having to save up so much money just for school fees." Sango pointed out.

"Wait, did you say the Kyoto Dance Academy?" Inuyasha asked. "If that's the school you want to go to I can get you in there no problem, our modeling company has sponsored that university for a long time, and if we recommended you for it you'll make it for sure. Plus I'll even pay all the admission fees you want."

"Oh my gosh, you'd do that?" Kagome asked breathless.

"Of course, as long as you're willing to go along with our plan." Inuyasha said. "So what do you say? Are you in or not…?"

* * *

"Kagome, meet Yura, she'll be your personal hair stylist for the next few weeks." Inuyasha announced.

Kagome smiled at the other woman who looked at her uninterested as she chewed loudly on her gum.

"Um hi." Kagome said when Yura said nothing. "It's nice to meet you."

Yura rolled her eyes. "Just sit down on the chair." She stated in a bored tone. She pulled a plastic cloth over Kagome body and began to examine her hair.

"Wow, you've got a lot of split ends, this is going to be a lot of work." Yura commented.

"Yura, I need her hair to look exactly the same as Kikyo's…not even one strand different you got that? And you might have to dye her hair a darker black, it doesn't look as rich as Kikyo's." Inuyasha ordered.

"What?" Kagome cried turning around in her chair and looking at Inuyasha. "I'm not dyeing my hair…it's fine the way it is!"

"No it's not, it won't look anything like Kikyo's if we keep it this color." Inuyasha said.

"How come you keep comparing me to Kikyo?" Kagome demanded getting a little fed up with all the change she would have to make. It was just the second day and Inuyasha had declared that they would start now. Kagome's hair would be changed along with her eye color (she'd have to wear contacts), her eyebrows done and a whole load of makeup would be put onto her face. Sango had said that it wasn't such a big sacrifice to make when she'd be getting so much out of the deal but Kagome just didn't find it right. She didn't' want to change her whole appearance to look like someone she barely knew.

"Maybe because that's the whole point you're here." Inuyasha snapped. "If you don't look like Kikyo then the whole thing gets called off. So you're dyeing your hair and that's final." He turned around and walked out of the room.

Kagome stuck out her tongue at Inuyasha's retreating back. "Stupid jerk." She huffed.

"I'll have to agree with you on that one." Yura said smirking.

* * *

**Review please! :D**


	6. A Sticky Situation

**Chapter 6: A Sticky Situation**

**

* * *

**

"Can we please take a break?" Kagome whined as she fell to the floor. After receiving a glare from everyone in the room, she tried again "Just a small one?"

"You've only been practicing for half an hour." Inuyasha stated, a frown tugging on the corners of his lips.

"I just don't think I can deal with her attitude anymore." Sniffed the only other man in the room. Inuyasha had just introduced him to her today as she was supposed to begin her actual training. She'd been coming to the agency for the past two days and all they had completed was her hair and makeup. Now they were on to the tough stuff, like how she was supposed to walk down the runway. And just for that Inuyasha had to hire some homosexual stuck up weirdo named Francoise.

"Excuse me, but I'm not the one with the attitude problem, you're the one who has the experience and we've been here for so long but I still haven't learned anything yet!" Kagome countered.

The man just rolled his eyes and gave a flick of his long beach blonde hair as he looked condescendingly at Kagome. "That's because you're just a dim-witted little girl." He huffed.

Kagome spluttered indignantly and opened her mouth to strike back when Inuyasha interrupted.

"Cut it out you two," Inuyasha said. "We don't have much time and you'll both have to work together from now on so I suggest you start this minute. Francoise, stop making it so difficult for Kagome."

Kagome smiled up at Inuyasha from her spot on the floor, happy that he was taking her side. Her smile soon turned into a frown as he opened his mouth to speak again, pointedly looking at her.

"And you Kagome, stop acting like such a child."

"I am not!" she cried and crossed her hands over her chest.

Inuyasha just rolled his eyes at her and turned to the rest of the staff. "Okay everyone," he bellowed in his authoritative voice. "We haven't got much time and these two over here," he swept a hand towards Kagome and Francoise who had taken to glaring at him. "Are not exactly progressing like we had expected so we'll all leave so they can be alone and concentrate."

Everyone murmured okay and began clearing out while Kagome and Francoise both made disgusted faces.

"Inuyasha, I am so not staying in a room alone with him!" Kagome cried out angrily.

Inuyasha turned to her a smirk on his face. "It's okay darling," he said smirking. "You're not much of his type anyway." With that he turned to leave but Kagome caught the sleeve of his shirt.

"No wait, why do you have to leave too?" she whined. "Shouldn't you stay here and keep an eye on how we're working?"

Inuyasha pulled his sleeve out of her clingy grasp. "I have lots of important work to deal with right now okay? And I'm sure Francoise will get the job done perfectly so don't worry, I'll be back soon." He looked down at the girl as he talked, and he tried really hard to suppress the smile that was threatening to appear on his face. She may have looked a lot like Kikyo but her attitude and personality was so different it was hard to believe that those two women could possibly share the same face. Kikyo never whined, never complained and never… pouted. The expressions Kagome made could never find their way onto the real model's face.

"Fine." Kagome stated her bottom lip slightly stuck out and her eyes narrowed at him in defiance.

"That's a good girl." Inuyasha remarked as he made his way out the door, leaving a confused Kagome in his wake.

"Stop treating me like a child!" she yelled after him but he ignored her and kept walking.

As Inuyasha strode purposefully towards the elevators, his thoughts strayed to a certain woman in the hospital probably ordering the nurses and doctors around.

_If only he could get _her_ to pout like that…_

* * *

"I thought I asked for one teaspoon of sugar." Kikyo said evenly glaring at the young nurse. "What are you trying to do, poison me?"

"I-I'm sorry miss Kikyo." The nurse murmured her head down so that she wasn't able to see Kikyo's sharp eyes pinned on her.

"Get me another cup of green tea and this time don't mess it up." Kikyo said with a dismissal wave of her hand, sending the nurse spinning on her heels and out the door in the blink of an eye.

"Woah- where are you going so fast?" came a deeper voice as the young nurse bumped into a hard chest. She looked up to meet golden eyes and at once bowing her head and muttering an apology she side stepped and strode past the man.

Inuyasha shrugged, and stepped into the room to see an annoyed looking Kikyo sitting up in the hospital bed with her eyes closed and a hand massaging her forehead.

"Don't you ever knock?" she snapped at him without even opening her eyes to spare him a glance.

"Well someone definitely woke up on the wrong side of bed." Inuyasha sighed stopping at the edge of her bed and gazing down at the young woman.

Kikyo snapped open her eyes giving him a glare.

"You have no idea what I've gone through ok?" she said looking away and crossing her hands over her chest.

Inuyasha smirked sitting down on the bed beside her legs. "Oh? So terrorizing the staff here takes a lot of energy I suppose."

"You know what Inuyasha, shut up." Kikyo took one long look at him and Inuyasha could tell she wasn't happy with him. "You're the reason I'm here in the first place."

"What?" Inuyasha laughed. "I'm pretty sure I'm not the one who decided it was a good idea to go practice my driving in the middle of the night."

"Yeah, well I needed to be alone okay? And do I ever get alone time with all the photographers and fans around? No, I don't but you wouldn't know that would you?"

Inuyasha slanted a look at her, half-surprised at her unusual outburst. It was a rare thing for Kikyo to explode like that, especially if it had to do with her emotions. She just wasn't the type of person who would share things like that. Her confession had struck something inside of him, and he felt guilty for making he put up with so much attention. She never really seemed to mind it before, but maybe after all the years, the fame and the limelight were finally getting to her.

He leaned over her his face close to hers and he reached his hand out and placed it on the side of her neck, caressing her soft skin.

"Hey, I'm sorry. And I know I could never understand fully what you have to go through everyday, but I'm here for you okay and no matter what you say or do I ain't leaving." He pulled his head back a little so he could give her one of his smirks.

Kikyo sighed, but this time more lightly and she titled her face forward so her lips grazed his. "I know." She murmured against him.

* * *

"Strut, Strut, Stop! Now Pose, Strut, Strut—"

"Enough!" Kagome declared putting her hand up to hide her face that was probably a dangerous shade of red by now. "I feel like a prostitute who doesn't know what she's doing!" Kagome screamed, frustrated from being forced to do something that looked so easy but was as difficult and embarrassing as asking her to do a lap dance in front of an audience of burly old men.

"No hun, you _look_ like a prostitute who doesn't know what she's doing." Francoise said apathetically.

Kagome glared. "You're really not helping by handing out rude comments."

"Fine, fine. Well if you must know, what you're doing wrong is thrusting your hips waay too much while you walk."

"But that's what you told me to do." Kagome complained still not understanding what he was talking about.

"No, I said sway not thrust." Francoise said flicking his hair over his shoulder for the billionth time. Kagome narrowed her eyes, it was getting so annoying to see him do that that she half wished she had a pair of scissors so she could chop of his blonde tresses. When Francoise was greeted with a blank look from her, he rolled his eyes and explained.

"There's a difference. We're trying to make you look elegant while you walk down the runway, not like you're an elephant in heels."

"Francoise…" Kagome said in warning.

"Oh yeah sorry..." he said sheepishly. "It's hard not to do that."

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Whatever just teach me alright so we can both leave."

"Okay, okay. Here watch me." With that Francoise walked down the runway calling out the steps as he went along.

"Strut, Strut, Stop!" He stopped in the middle of the room. "Now pose." He pulled his hand to his hip and angled his face forward with attitude and even though Kagome felt like bursting out with laughter at the sight she was actually amazed how he could do it with such ease. After Inuyasha had left them she had tried many times to no avail. It had looked easy when Francoise had explained to her what she had to do but it was much harder than it seemed it would be. And the heels that she was forced to wear were no help either, they only made it more easy to stumble and more awkward to walk. Give her a pair of dance shoes or ballet slippers and she'd at least be able to get the strutting right.

She probably had been looking at her high heels with disdain because she heard Francoise's voice call from the middle of the room.

"As much as I'd like you to take the heels off too, you'll have to do the walk wearing them so you can get used to walking with heels. There's really no other way." This time his tone sounded sympathetic and Kagome for once looked up at him with a wan smile. She felt like she'd never get it right, it had literally been two hours of practicing.

"Maybe I'm just not cut out for this stuff." Kagome mumbled dejectedly.

Francoise walked back to her side grabbing her hand and making her stand at the start of the runway.

"What are you talking about girl, with a face like that and a body to match it's a wonder you weren't modelling before! Now come on, we'll do it together."

_

* * *

_

_Thump_

Kagome bent down in front of the vending machine and pulled out her Pepsi can from the slot. She opened it and took a long, satisfying swig. Her hair was pulled into a messy bun away from her face and she had changed back into her normal clothes, a loose t-shirt and jeans. It had taken a lot of energy and work to get the walk right and Kagome was actually proud of herself. Even though she still wobbled a bit here and there, for someone who barely wore any shoes with heels, she had pulled off quite a feat- according to her at least. Francoise still believed she had a long way to go before Inuyasha would be satisfied though.

Kagome mentally shrugged. Who really cared what he thought? He didn't even have the decency to come back from wherever he was to see if she was doing okay. She started walking down the waiting room of the agency, heading towards the doors. Kagome brought the can back to her lips taking another sip, the waiting room was pretty much empty save for the secretary at the front desk who was busy bopping her head to some music she was listening to from her i-pod.

She was halfway down the room, with only the noise of her high heels clacking against the tiled floor to accompany her when she heard a voice awkwardly close to her ear.

"Going home?" Kagome whipped around- a little too quickly- startled by the stranger's voice and in doing so stumbled over her on feet and crashed to the floor. Her can of what was supposed to be refreshing coke was coated over her hair and clothes in a sticky mess.

She looked up from her embarrassing position on the ground to see Inuyasha smirking down at her, his hands tucked in his pockets.

"Sometimes I wonder if I was right in making you Kikyo's replacement." He said, speaking as if she wasn't sitting on her ass right in front of him.

Kagome scowled. "I only fell 'cause you snuck up behind me and scared the crap out of me you jerk!" She brought a hand up to push her sticky bangs out of her eyes.

Inuyasha snorted, "And the fact that you're wearing high heels had nothing to do with it?" he questioned. She looked so helpless sprawled out on the floor and he thought he should help her up but then decided against it when he saw her fingers dripping with the remains of sticky coke. 'Why are you wearing those by the way? I thought you said those things were an evil device to torture young women?"

"If you must know," she said pushing herself up and eyeing him angrily when she saw he made no attempt to help. "Francoise said I had to wear these everywhere I go to help me get used to them."

Inuyasha reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief handing it to her. Kagome grabbed it out of his hand glaring at him again as she began to wipe her hands.

"Speaking of which, what took you so long? What exactly was the "_important business_" you had to attend to?" she asked handing the cloth back to him.

He stared at her outstretched hand blankly. "Uh, you can keep that." He said pushing her hand away. Kagome rolled her eyes. "And if _you_ must know I was checking up on Kikyo at the hospital, you know making sure she was okay…" _and certainly not making out with her for the past two hours_ he thought to himself.

"Oh and is she alright?"

"She's fine, it was just a small driving accident." He replied glancing at the clock on the wall at the other end of the room. "Look, I gotta get going, I have an important call to make but I'll meet you back here tomorrow same time." He turned to leave giving her a small nod in acknowledgement.

"Wait," Kagome said. "I won't be able to come here tomorrow. I have dance practice and it will take up more than half my day."

"So cancel it. It can't be more important than this and besides you're already good at dance right? You don't have to be there."

"Yes I _have_ to be there and no it's not just dance…its means more to me than the stupid stuff I'm doing here." Kagome said a frown tugging at the corners of her mouth. Sheesh, could this guy be more inconsiderate?

"Fine, no need to get you panties in a twist, but try coming in after your little dancing business to make up for this okay? We really don't have time to waste; the photo shoot is in three days." He turned around to leave once again this time he hesitated and turned to give her a once over. Walking up to her he leaned close to her, his face a mere inch away from her own. Kagome stood in her spot stock still, her face heating up and her mind too confused to form a word. He smirked as she felt his hand on her hair and pulling out the hair tie she had used for her bun, he let her dark hair come cascading down her shoulders.

"Wha-?" she said still not able to get her mind over how close his face was to hers.

In answer he just shrugged his shoulder nonchalantly as if it he had just done something absolutely normal. "You should keep it down, it makes you look more attractive." Was all he said as he jogged off towards the elevators, leaving Kagome standing once again alone in the waiting room.

"What a weirdo."


	7. Do Me a Favour

**Chapter 7: Do Me a Favour**

**

* * *

**

Kagome clapped loudly, calling the attention of all the little chatter boxes. Twelve little heads simultaneously turned towards her in complete attention. Kagome smiled, giving herself a mental pat on the back. She had always been good with kids. Ever since Souta had been born she was constantly cuddling him, taking care of him and basically acting like a second mother. It came to her naturally, and boy did it ever come in handy.

"Okay you guys, no more fooling around; we have to get back to work if we don't want people making fun of us at the recital."

A hand shot up in the air. "Yes, Shippo?"

"Kagome, can I be partners with Rin? Suki keeps stepping on my tail." The young youkai questioned innocently and Kagome's smile grew bigger. How could she say no to _that_ face?

"Okay Shippo," Kagome began, "But only if Suki doesn't mind." All eyes turned to Suki who flipped her little curls over her shoulder and pursed her little pink lips.

"I don't mind, I never wanted to be partners with Shippo in the first place. He's not a very good dancer you know."

"Hey!" Shippo cried indignantly. "Who are you calling a bad dancer huh?"

"**You**, you big oaf! You don't even know how to do a pirouette properly!" Came back the haughty reply and in the blink of an eye more voices joined the argument.

"That's enough!" Kagome called loudly, using her semi-stern voice, her stern voice was for when she was extremely mad which didn't happen very often except for the time when one kid tripped the other one down the stairs. At once the arguing died down to a few glares passed between Shippo and Suki.

"What have I told you all about fighting? I don't want any one of you guys leaving this room with hurt feelings okay?"

"Sorry Kagome!" the class chorused and Kagome smiled again. "Good, now where were we? Oh yes dance recital…everyone grab your partner and we'll start from the fourth position we learned last week and we'll go on from there."

All the kids lined up and got to work, their previous calamity all but forgotten.

Kagome walked across the mirror lined room towards the small stool where the stereo system was set and pressed play. She quickly got into her pose at the front of the room wondering where _he_ could possibly be at this time.

"Everyone ready?" she asked looking at the children from the reflection in the mirror, the kids nodded and she grinned. "Okay five, six, seven-"

The sound of the door opening made her stop suddenly, and she straightened from her position. "He's here." She said to herself and was about to walk towards the door when it swung open fully and a sliver head with very familiar little ears popped in.

Kagome's mouth opened and her eyes widened giving her a "trapped deer" look.

"God woman, do you know how long it took to find you? And it's raining, RAINING for gods sakes. Do you know how much I _hate_ being wet?"

"Or not," Kagome muttered to herself, trying not to stare at how Inuyasha's wet bangs stuck to his face in an adorable way. He stepped into the room fully and began to take off his coat as he shook the water out of his long silver tresses.

She tried to, but she couldn't help but allow the corners of her mouth to lift in a small smile. He looked so much like an abandoned puppy and not at all like the man she had just seen the day before. He hung his jacket on the coat rack by the door and made his way towards her and she noticed he wasn't wearing his usual formal business attire and had opted for casual jeans and a black t-shirt. The rest of the class stared quietly with wide eyes as he stopped in front of their teacher, crossing his arms with a scowl on his face.

"And what the heck are _you_ staring at?" Inuyasha all but growled.

Kagome's eyes widened again and heat rushed to her cheeks. "I-I wasn't staring…at you." Kagome stuttered lamely. _Forget about adorable puppy_, she thought sadly, _he was more like rabid dog._

His scowl deepened and Kagome scrambled to say something to keep him from continuing their present conversation. "Uh, what are you doing here? And how come you knew where I was?"

"I called you like a million times on your cell phone and you wouldn't pick up, and then I called your house and no one picked up their either, so I got worried and thought you might be in trouble or something so I looked around for you."

"You were worried about me?" Kagome asked incredulously.

"Keh, like I'd ever care about _you_. I was just worried you chickened out or something and ran out on our deal."

"Oh thanks a bunch, that sure makes me wanna run back to the modelling agency right away." She replied, her voice laced with heavy sarcasm. "Who told you where I was anyway?" she asked suspiciously. Only close family and friends knew about her part time job here.

"Well I stopped at your house 'cause I had a feeling someone had to be home and your little brother was there and said you worked here on weekends." He shrugged. "But God wench, it was still pretty fucking annoying running around in that rain looking for you."

"AHEM." She said putting her hands on her hips in a typical teenage girl fashion. When he gave her a clueless look, she full out glared. "Watch your language mister, there are innocent kids here."

Inuyasha turned his head around to take in his surroundings, looking as if he just noticed there were twelve other little pairs of ears all tuned in to their conversation.

"Well," he said after a moment. "They have to learn someday."

"And today is not the day." Kagome grabbed his hand and led him to the back of the dance studio and towards the back room for some privacy. "You kids keep practicing I'll be back in a bit!" she called cheerfully over her shoulder.

As soon as she had the door to the back room closed behind her she spun to face the silver haired hanyou with narrowed eyes.

"What do you want?" she whispered. Inuyasha ignored her and looked pointedly at her small hand still clasping his much larger one. Kagome instantly let go with a small hint of pink creeping into her cheeks and chose to fold her arms across her chest instead.

Inuyasha smirked. "You sure are clingy," he commented. "Kikyo wouldn't be caught dead doing the things you do."

Kagome glowered. "I'm sorry if you haven't noticed Inuyasha," she said, pronouncing his name bitingly. "But Kikyo and Kagome are two _different_ people. If you have a problem with that, go back to her and stop annoying _me_."

"Yeah well don't I know it. She's much more refined and sophisticated unlike some overly emotional schoolgirls." He snorted.

Kagome on the other hand, took a deep breath to keep her from strangling him like a madwoman. There would be no witnesses save for a few gullible children…but still she was known for her tremendous patience and she wasn't about to let this jerk ruin that.

"You still didn't answer my question." She said swiftly changing the topic. "What do you want?"

Inuyasha grunted, leaning his shoulder against the wall while facing her. "Isn't it obvious? What else would I want besides getting you to come do some more work at the agency? You did agree to come tomorrow after your little dance lesson and I made everyone stay late for you and you don't even show up."

"I called and told your secretary I'd be late! It's not like I planned to stay longer!"

"Well you wanted to know why I came here, that's why. If you're not keeping up your end of the bargain then why should I?"

"That's it?" she asked with a blank face. He shrugged lazily in response. "I guess so."

"You interrupted my class, swore in front of my kids, and put me down all because you wanted me to go with you?"

"It sounds a little bad when you put it that way, but sure." He said coolly.

Kagome clenched her teeth, the idea of strangling him from before popping once again into her head. She stepped up to him and grabbed a lock of his silver hair pulling his head down towards her so they were nose to nose.

"Listen you," she hissed, barely able to keep a lid on her anger. "You obviously don't know me very well, but let me tell you one thing."

Her breath fanned across his face with every word and he couldn't help but breathe in her sweet smell. His lips were parted and he closed them quickly, swallowing hard.

"I am _not_ a girl that you can push around okay? Just because I'm nicer than the average teenage girl and agreed to your stupid offer doesn't mean you can step all over me. I told you yesterday that I was busy today and I am not going to let those little kids down because some big headed guy decided he's more important than them."

Inuyasha's eyes were still wide with surprise and his face was still blank and when he didn't say anything they just stood there for a while looking into each others eyes. Though as soon as her anger had come, it vanished leaving Kagome feeling embarrassed and just plain rude for her little outburst. The silence stretched on.

"L-look, I didn't mean to sound so harsh, I'm sorry." She rushed to explain but Inuyasha seemed to regain his senses and put his patented smirk back into place.

"It's okay, It's nice to see you have a backbone in you." He quipped with a short laugh. "You surprise me every time, you little fire cracker." He ruffled her hair mockingly.

Kagome forced a laugh and smiled nervously. "Yeah, that's me…the little firecracker…"

They looked at each other again and once more the room was filled with an awkward silence. Kagome could tell they were both itching for something to say so they could stop staring at each other.

Inuyasha scratched the back of his head and Kagome couldn't help but think again how boyish he looked all of a sudden.

"So, am I safe to assume you're not going to be coming to the agency today?" he ventured with what Kagome was surprised to see as the hint of a small smile.

When she nodded in approval, he dropped his hand and moved towards the door. "Okay then Kagome, I guess I'll be see you tomorrow." His hand reached out and turned the door knob when Kagome's voice stopped him.

"Uh, Inuyasha?" He turned around to see chocolate coloured eyes gazing innocently at him. Something about that look didn't seem quite right.

"Yeah?"

"Could you do me a _huge_ favour?"


	8. It Takes Two to Tango

**Chapter Eight: It Takes Two to Tango**

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It was high school all over again. The same feeling he got at his first school dance passed over him. He remembered every awkward moment of it although he couldn't remember the girl's name to save his life. It had taken weeks of courage to finally be able to ask her out to the dance and once there he wanted nothing more than to run back home and hide under his bed. He'd been a good two inches shorter than his date at the time and much clumsier. Bumping into other dancing couples and stepping on his partner's feet. It was horrible. And if Inuyasha didn't know better, it was no different from his current predicament.

"Relax Inuyasha," Kagome advised.

"Shut up."

He heard her giggle and twirl out away from him.

"You're doing great. I don't see why you're so upset." She said happily. He rolled his eyes. Of course she would have something to smile about. She had all but begged him to stay and help out because her original dance partner didn't turn up. When that didn't work she turned to threats. Inuyasha had his pride and on normal occasion he would never have given in but when the only hope to keeping his pay check was thinking of bailing, he didn't have to think twice.

"You owe me big time." He glared at her and she only smiled innocently back at him doing a reverse turn. Their faces close to each other she looked up at him gratefully.

"Thanks," she whispered. "I promise I'll make it up to you." Inuyasha found himself looking into her eyes. She seemed so sincere he didn't know how to answer.

"Keh, like I care." He grumbled. The music caught speed and Kagome moved along with it, leading Inuyasha into the steps. He stumbled occasionally and Kagome would just smile lightly and right him.

"Just keep count in your head Inuyasha, like this. 1,2,3, and 1,2,3 and 1,2,3. It keeps you on beat."

He nodded lightly, and furrowed his brow in concentration. Then came the end and once again the two were face to face. Inuyasha's hands wrapped around Kagome's waist and her hands on his shoulders. The music was coming to and end and with a quick smirk, Inuyasha led Kagome into a sudden dip as the music slowly coming to a stop around them.

Kagome who was caught off guard stared up at him wide-eyed. He stared back at her with his smirk still in place.

"How did you..." she began awe-struck.

He shrugged. "I guess I'm just a fast learner." They stayed in their position for a while, unable to look away until a tiny voice broke the silence.

"Kagome? Don't we get to try?"

Inuyasha nearly dropped the girl in his arms when the little brat piped up. He hadn't known why he was suddenly drawn into Kagome's eyes but he found that he couldn't look away and that thought irked him. He righted the both of them pulling Kagome back into a standing position and cooling his features into a bored expression.

Kagome on the other hand, couldn't control the blush that crept onto her face. Brushing her bangs out of her eyes, she turned to the twelve children, all staring with piqued curiosity at the pair in front of them.

"Okay guys, we're gunna take it from the top. With your partners I want you all to practice the three steps I taught yesterday and then try going into the steps Inuyasha and I just practiced. I'll be passing by to help each of you individually."

There was a little clamour as all the children rushed towards their partners and began talking in excited voices.

Inuyasha and Kagome stood at the front of the room, looking about awkwardly. Kagome was the first to speak up, turning to the hanyou expectantly.

"Uh Inuyasha?" when she caught his attention she continued on, "I know this is going to sound weird but could you please not tell anyone that I work here?"

He frowned." I guess so, but why are you so bent on hiding it?"

He was confused. She seemed like she really enjoyed being here. The past few hours that he'd stayed to help he'd seen her interact with those kids like no other woman. They loved her and he knew she loved them. And she was a great teacher. There was no doubt about that. She did have a temper (he'd seen it first hand) but she wasn't hard on the children and was firm enough to not let things go out of control.

"The thing is, these kids aren't exactly well-off. They come from families that can't afford to allow them extra activities. Some of them barely have enough to send all of their children to school so it's hard on the kids. They have nothing to look forward to. Me and a friend of mine, opened this place up and we decided to give lessons to those kids that financially wouldn't be able to learn."

Inuyasha looked at her, surprised that she was actually working for free. He hadn't known that the kids in the room were poor. They were just kids.

"I still don't understand why that's a bad thing." He said, looking at a group of children laughing as they bumped into each other and fell down.

"It's not a bad thing. It's just that before I started teaching here, I got a couple job offers from some people to give their kids lessons." Kagome walked over to the corner of the room and grabbed two bottles of water.

"They'd be paying me well because unlike these children, their parents had money. I turned down the offers saying that I was too busy with school to give lessons. I thought I'd rather use my skills to help out children in need instead. But I don't want anyone to know because then word would get out and the rich parents would be back with their offers. I don't particularly look forward to lying again." She handed him the water.

"Oh."

Kagome sat down on the floor, crossing her legs. She smiled up at him and patted the ground next to her. Inuyasha looked down and after a slight moment of hesitation he joined her.

The two sat in comfortable silence, watching the children dancing and running around. Inuyasha looked at Kagome out of the corner of is eye. He thought he had made his mind up about her. She was just the average teenager looking for an opportunity. He gave it to her. But after today he noticed there was something more. She wasn't like the other girls he knew. She wasn't like Kikyo. And for a second he thought that maybe it was a good thing.

Kagome turned only to see Inuyasha staring fixatedly at the ground before him. He seemed to be deep in thought and the look on his face brought a smile to her face. He was acting very different today. Maybe it was because of the way she had stood her ground before or maybe he was just the type that didn't warm up to others easily. Whatever it was she was glad for the change. Maybe now she could have a decent conversation with the guy.

"So Inuyasha, what made you choose the modelling industry?" she asked with a hint of curiosity in her voice.

"Hm?" he said breaking out of his stupor to meet her gaze. "Oh, I dunno." He ran a hand through his hair. "I had some connections. It was just an easy way in so I thought why not take it." In truth he was actually in law school studying to be a lawyer. He was working part-time at a well known firm as well and that was when he'd met Kikyo. Her agent at the time came in with her and they wanted to file charges against one of her ex-boyfriends for harassment.

He didn't know how it happened but Kikyo and him hooked up and next thing you know, she hired him as her new agent. He didn't know weather the fact that he could be close to her or the extremely high pay was what made him choose the job, but he took it without hesitation.

"I figured," she said thoughtfully. "You don't look like the type to be a modelling agent."

Inuyasha glowered at her. "And what is _that_ supposed to mean?"

Kagome shrugged innocently, taking a sip of her bottled water. "Just, you know you're not exactly the friendliest person. I thought agents were supposed to be socially open and stuff."

"Keh, what would you know? You're just a kid." He scooted over to the wall to lean his back on it.

"I am not a kid," Kagome scoffed. "I'm nineteen."

After the sceptical look shot her way, she smiled sheepishly. "Okay, okay eighteen but I'm turning nineteen in like two weeks so hah!"

Inuyasha shook his head at her. "Even if you are eighteen you still behave like a child."

Kagome pursed her lips angrily. "Okay grandpa, how old are you then?"

"Twice your age." He said simply. It didn't take long for Kagome to do the mental math and when she did she gasped.

"You are so lying! You can't be thirty-four, my _mom_ is thirty-four."

"Okay so I'm not thirty-four, but I'm still not revealing my age to you of all people." Kagome scooted over to him and smiled deviously.

"I bet you're in your mid twenties. Probably twenty-three or something."

Inuyasha shifted uncomfortably. _'Damn, she was a good guesser.'_

"No."

"You're lying."

"No I'm not."

"Sure you are."

"Why is it so hard to believe that I'm not twenty-three?" he grumbled. He hated when people asked his age. It was so awkward. More than half the people at work were older than him and thought he was incapable even though he was their boss.

"Duh, because of your looks silly." She reached up to touch a few strands of his hair. "I mean the hair throws people off but I'm sure when they see your face they can tell you're not _that_ old."

"Hey, hey watch the hair." He said grabbing her hand and directing it away from his silver locks. Kagome only rolled her eyes.

"I guess being surrounded by divas twenty-four-seven; you've picked up their attitudes too huh?"

"What? No-" Inuyasha spluttered his hand still around Kagome wrist as she laughed her head off at her own joke.

Then the sound of an opening door came and they simultaneously looked up to see a figure walk in.

"Hey Kag, sorry I'm late, I was just…" the voice trailed off as the owner looked across the room to see Kagome sitting suspiciously close to some weird man with silver hair. They seemed to be holding hands. The figure looked back and forth between the two. "Uh, what's going on?"

Kagome immediately pulled her hand out of Inuyasha's and shot up. "Hey Kouga."


	9. If Only You Were Here

**Chapter Nine: If Only You Were Here**

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"I guess I'm missing something, I didn't know you'd replace me so quickly." Kouga said with a chuckle coming over to where Kagome stood.

Kagome shoved him away lightly. "Hey, you were the one that was late, and you're lucky enough that Inuyasha was here to fill in for you so it wouldn't be a wasted day."

Inuyasha looked on between the two. He had long since gotten up from his spot on the floor to join Kagome. Apparently this Kouga person was Kagome's teaching partner.

Kouga's gaze now shifted towards the other man in the room. He'd never seen Kagome with him before and he'd known her for a long time. It was time for an introduction.

"Hey I don't think we've met," he said offering his hand. "I'm Kouga. I'm Kag's dance partner."

Inuaysha stared at the offered hand with distaste, something in his gut told him he wasn't particularly going to like this guy but when his eyes met Kagome's and she smiled encouragingly he extended his own. "Inuyasha, I'm an agent and a …friend of Kagome's."

"Really? She's never mentioned you before." Kouga said and if Inuyasha didn't have sharp ears he would definitely have missed the hint of a challenge in his voice. And Inuyasha never was one to back down.

"Yeah? Well I don't believe she's mentioned you either." Kagome looked back and forth between the two and although she had no idea what went wrong, she wasn't oblivious to the change in atmosphere.

Turning on Kouga she said, "I met Inuyasha through my friend Sango's boyfriend Miroku. You remember Sango right?"

When she wasn't met with an answer and both men still stood there glaring daggers at each other she tactfully changed the subject. "Oh gosh, Kouga we need to get you out of that jacket. It's soaking wet!"

Kouga turned towards her with a charming smile. "Hey could you get it for me, my fingers feel numb."

"Sure thing." Kagome said glad that she'd been able to change the direction of the conversation as she unbuttoned his jacket and slid it off of his shoulders.

Inuyasha's face clouded over as he watched the exchange between the two with disgust. The man had just come five minutes ago and she was all over him.

'_Well, since when the heck do I give a damn...'_

"If you two are done, I'll just be leaving. Don't forget about tomorrow Kagome."

Inuyasha grabbed his coat from the doorway and just like that he vanished outside, the door closing loudly behind him.

"I wonder what got into him." Kouga wondered aloud, a smug grin adorning his face.

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Francoise tutted as he shoved her back in the change room.

"This won't do," he pulled out another dress from stack that he was going through and held it up for inspection while he waited for Kagome to change. "And I don't understand why in the world you cannot change out here like every other model in this building. It's not like anyone's watching."

"But you're in the room," came Kagome's muffled reply as she pulled the new dress he handed to her over her head." And you're a guy."

Francoise rolled his eyes from the other side of the door and threw a pair of red stilleto's at her absentmindedly. "Honey, I send gay signal's from five miles away, don't insult me."

Kagome laughed as she emerged from the change room and Francoise made a dramatic display to drop his jaw.

"Well hello, gorgeous. I think we've found your look."

Kagome twirled around letting the filmy material of the dress swish around her.

"Um, isn't this a bit too short? I mean I don't think I've ever revealed this much leg." She made a show of pulling the hem of the dress lower but Francoise swatted her hands away.

"God woman, that's the beauty of this dress. Any model would die to wear it, but only Kikyo get's the good ones."

"Okay then, I guess." Kagome said suddenly aware again of the fact that she wasn't Kagome anymore. From today on she was supposed to be Kikyo and that included dressing like her. She reminded herself that it was for a good cause, one that would shape her future but that still wasn't able to comfort her like she had hoped it would. A sudden assault of anxiety made her unconsciously bite her bottom lip.

"Kag, stop that, your ruining your lipstick." Francoise murmured as he ran towards the door. Since Kikyo was a few inches taller than Kagome, they'd need to make a few alterations but hopefully it wouldn't be too noticeable. "I'll be right back, don't move!" He called over his shoulder as he dashed out.

Now alone in the room, Kagome walked over to the other end where there was a whole mirrored wall for the models to use. She was not surprised to find that the person she saw in the mirror looking back at her, wasn't her. More like her exact opposite actually. It was like looking into an alternate universe and she smiled wryly as she began to hum 'The Twilight Zone' under her breath.

She looked around again at her surroundings. Kagome still wasn't used to so much clothes, makeup, accessories, and skinny people all in one place and she was glad no one was in the room with her. When she had come to the agency in the morning, right on time for once, she was expecting Inuyasha to be there waiting for her but instead she was met with one of the staff who proceeded to take her towards Francoise. They quickly explained that today would be her fitting day and that they'd get a few more practice sessions on the runway before she was allowed to go home. It was well into the day now and most of the models and staff had gone home but there was still no sign of Inuyasha. Kagome was still puzzled from the random display she'd seen yesterday of him. He'd left so suddenly and she got the feeling that he was mad at her.

"Maybe that's why he's been avoiding me?" she said to herself then shook her head. Inuyasha probably had more on his hands than to worry about her. And why in the world would he angry with her in the first place?

"I'm baa~ack." A cheerful voice broke through her thoughts and she smiled openly. The agency was pretty dull but Francoise, after you learned to get along with his upfront nature, was just the right person to be around to make it less of a pain.

"Kay so I met Inuyasha on my run down the hall and he said to leave the alterations for now, he wants us back on the runway doing our thing so you have longer to practice."

Kagome nodded and grabbed her clothes as she went back into the change room. Tomorrow was the day of her big photo shoot so it was natural that Inuyasha would be nervous and want more use of the time. She just wished he was here. Something about his presence made the whole ordeal seem less scary.

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**A/N okay so if any of you re-read the chapters you probably noticed that I didn't change much. At least I think so. There was just some dialogue added or taken out that I didn't feel was right and I didn't really do much else. Maybe just some spelling and grammar? Anyway I hope you guys appreciate this, it took a lot of time. But in a way it helped a lot too. Having re-read my own work made me get some new ideas and I've got a plan for this story now sooo without further ado, go on and read chapter 10. Hope you guys like it…and PLEASE review if you do…it means a lot and it encourages me to write more. Thanks again to everyone that has given a helpful review in the past.**


	10. Back to Business

A/N: Hi guys I know it's hard to believe but here it is, an update. I don't know how I got the time to write this chapter but I'm actually happy because now I've made up my mind that I won't discontinue this story. So I'm just letting everyone who was ever looking forward to any updates, that yes updates will be coming and though I can't exactly promise when, I know I'll end get around to it sometime. I'm going to start making the chapters much longer now and hopefully I'll be able to wrap this story up sooner.

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**Chapter Ten: Back to Business**

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The light pattering of rain against the ground was in its own way relaxing after a very long day of endless work and preparation. Who knew modelling was this hard?

Kagome sniffled. Great, now that along with the ticklish feeling in her throat was a sure sign of an oncoming cold. She just prayed it would wait until after "dooms day" other wise known as tomorrow when she'd be taken to Mike Claire's private studio to begin the photo shoot. Francoise had gone over an impromptu posing lesson after picking out her outfit and thanked his stars when Kagome proved to be a quick learner. She'd been worked on for hours with teams of Kikyo's stylists and helpers and she'd practiced walking and talking like Kikyo for the last few days but there was still a sinking feeling in her stomach. It was like her non-existent sixth sense was saying: run while you still can Kagome!

'Ha…run in these heels?' she thought with a wry smile as she stared down at her feet. It didn't look so odd anymore, seeing the dainty little stilettos on her self but it would look out of place to others when they saw a school girl taking the subway dressed like that. Speaking of which, the rain still hadn't let up and she was itching to get home.

She peered outside from the glass doors of the modelling agency. Crap, it was getting pretty dark too and she still had a while a way to walk to the station.

"Why are mother's always right?" she muttered under her breath, referring to earlier that day when she was leaving the house and had laughed when her mom suggested it might rain and an umbrella would be handy. Did having children come with the ability to predict weather? Kagome could only imagine.

She actually didn't mind walking in the rain though getting wet in the chilly weather would only add to her chances of catching that pesky cold. But she had no choice and so she pulled her coat tighter around herself and stepped out of the building.

She had only made it down the block when she heard the honk of a car aimed at her and turned to see its window roll down.

"Hey, Kagome!"

Kagome squinted in the rain, trying to make out who the driver was and when she saw Mirkou's goofy grin she smiled and waved back.

"Do you want a ride?" he hollered over and the traffic behind him honked to get him moving. Kagome nodded eagerly and sprinted over to the car, mentally congratulating herself once again for not once wobbling in her heels despite the slippery ground and the rain that was now coming down in buckets.

She made it to Miroku's side and was about to go around to the passenger seat when she noticed a certain silver haired man already situated there who motioned to the back of the car.

Seeing him she hesitated…maybe she should just take the subway? For some reason she still had the feeling that Inuyasha was mad at her and she didn't think getting into a car with him was such a good idea. The vehicles behind them began bleating out a torrent of impatient honks, annoyed at the hold up and Kagome shook her head. What was she thinking? She was too tired and wet and the faster she got home and into a warm bed the better. Pulling open the rear door of Miroku's car she tumbled in and Miroku hit the road.

"Thanks for getting me out of that rain Miroku." She said gratefully as she settled herself in the back seat.

"Not a problem Kagome, after all we wouldn't want you going home alone at this hour." Miroku said charmingly and glanced at the girl from his rear view mirror. "Although we should have gotten to you earlier, you're drenched!"

"Keh, she looks like a drowned kitten" came the snarky response from Inuyasha. Kagome frowned, so now he was being rude while talking about her as if she wasn't there? She didn't even get a "Hello" or "How are you?"

"Yeah well you look like a wet dog!" she threw back. It had only been a minute in the car with Inuyasha and he was already ruining her mood. He had avoided her all day, for what reason she didn't know and he didn't even have the decency to be nice. He was _so_ unprofessional.

Inuyasha turned in his seat to look at the younger girl and scoffed. "What kind of comeback was that? I'm not even wet!" Beside him, Miroku rolled his eyes.

"Well you will be when I throw you out of the car!"

She didn't know why she was getting so worked up but something about being around Inuyasha at the moment was putting her on edge.

"Children, settle down." Miroku said with the tone of a disapproving mother.

"Shut up Miroku." Inuyasha grumbled and turned around in his seat with a frown marring his face. He stared straight ahead and tried to gather his thoughts. Ok, so maybe he was being a bit of a jerk to Kagome without really meaning to but he'd had a really bad day and he felt the need to make everyone else know it too. Taking it out on someone had always felt good before. But knowing Kagome, she would probably take it to heart and start crying or something equally girly and weak.

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence in which both men could hear Kagome fidgeting around. Sitting in wet clothes was really unpleasant.

"So, Kagome…." Miroku ventured, "Where do you live again?"

Kagome stopped glaring at the back of Inuyasha's seat to look up. "Oh, just past the Koto district, it's this little shrine my grandpa owns." Miroku nodded and turned his focus back on the road. It was getting pretty difficult to see through the rain.

"You might wanna get out of your clothes". Inuyasha suddenly said turning around and staring at Kagome intently.

Kagome, who had been out of it looked at him and spluttered, not being able to form a proper sentence. Was he serious? Take off her clothes?

Inuyasha rolled his eyes at seeing her shocked expression. "Stupid, not like that…I mean unless you want to get sick then you should take off that wet jacket at least, I can hear you shivering."

"Oh". Kagome looked at him and her glare softened a bit. Was it just her or did Inuyasha just say something nice….sort of. Seeing her face, Inuyasha blanched. He felt like they'd gotten off on the wrong foot with the whole arguing thing but he didn't want her giving him that look. _'I'm so not going soft…'_

"Keh, not like I care or anything." He added. There that would do it.

Shrugging off her coat Kagome sighed, not ready to get into another tussle.

"How come you didn't come to check up on me today?" A silence passed and Kagome thought that maybe he was ignoring her now too.

"I was busy." He stated simply, not bothering to turn in his seat. Kagome let out a frustrated breath. Miroku glanced at the two out of the corner of his eye and wondered if he should mention that Inuyasha was up in his office playing cards with him for a good half hour. '_No_', Miroku decided, '_I'd like to be in one piece before I get home.'_

"Busy enough to not even ask if I was ready for tomorrow?" Kagome asked, only a hint of sarcasm in her voice. She was actually quite worried really. Before she had been worried that he might not be there to accompany her at the shoot but now she was sure he wouldn't come anyway. And as much as she disliked Inuyasha at the moment, he was the only one from the agency she could really be open with. That and he was the one who dragged her into the whole modelling thing in the first place.

"Yeah, I was. And I seem to recall that yesterday _you _were plenty busy getting cozy with your boyfriend." Inuyasha snapped remembering the events of the previous day, and Kagome looked at him, incredulous.

So this was about Koga?

"He's not my boyfriend! And I was not getting cozy with him, he's my dance partner! I've known him for years."

Inuyasha scowled and turned around in his seat again, narrowing his eyes at the girl. So maybe he had been avoiding her and maybe he was a little pissed that she had all but ignored him when that stinking wolf had walked in, but what was really bothering him was the fact that he seemed to actually give a shit.

"You were all over him Kagome", he said with disgust "and for a second you had me thinking you were such a great person for giving free lessons to those kids, but really you're just there to get in that wolf's pants!"

Silence.

Okay, maybe that was a little too harsh, Inuyasha thought.

He waited for the angry retort, a scream, narrowed eyes…anything! But Kagome just sat there and he saw the flash of hurt in her eyes and then it was gone.

"Miroku, stop the car." She said in a quiet voice.

Miroku who didn't really understand what was going on, but had been paying attention quickly tried to dissuade her.

"But the rain hasn't stopped Kagome-chan and we're almost-"

"I said, stop…the…car." Miroku looked in the rear-view at Kagome and mentally cursed, she was really serious. _'Inuyasha you idiot…'_

The car pulled over and Kagome grabbed her jacket, pulling it on as she reached for the door.

"Wh-where are you going?" Inuyasha asked, not entirely thinking.

Kagome ignored him and turned to Miroku, "Thanks again for the ride." With that she was out the door and Inuyasha half expected her to slam it shut, but she shut it slowly and walked off.

"You're just going to sit there and gawk? Go apologize and bring her back you big moron!" Miroku exclaimed.

Inuyasha looked through the window and out into the rain at Kagome's retreating back.

"For what?" he yelled back, although he knew that he was just being stubborn.

There was something definitely wrong here. He had been a jerk just now and he really felt _bad_ about it. That didn't settle well with him. He was even allowing himself to _like_ Kagome. Inuyasha did not like people. He hardly liked Miroku and they'd known each other for ages. He barely knew the girl and already he felt something about her he couldn't even explain. But…he didn't need any complications in his life right now….so he decided, it was just best if he let her stay mad at him.

He let out an aggravated sigh. "I'm not apologizing Miroku, just drop me home."

"You can be such an ass sometimes." Miroku scowled and started the engine. He usually didn't get angry at his friend because he knew Inuyasha wasn't the most pleasant person but Kagome was a friend of Sango's not to mention a really nice girl to begin with. But, he'd stay out of it for now and have a talk with Inuyasha later.

"I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't show up tomorrow." He added. That was sure to make Inuyasha regret his actions.

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes but didn't say anything. He was half-heartedly hoping Kagome wouldn't show up anyway.

* * *

When Kagome finally got home, she was beyond tired. It was like someone sapped the energy right out of her.

She went straight up to her room, stopping in the living room long enough to let her mother know she was home.

Only when she was tucked away under her covers, having taken a relaxing bath and eating a hot meal, did she let herself think about Inuyasha. That mean, callous, good-for-nothing man. How _dare_ he say she didn't care about the kids? The fact that he thought a girl like her would want to get in anyone's pants was like saying she was a slut. That was like a slap on the face and a kick to the stomach. It hurt more than that. Kagome felt tears prick her eyes. She knew she shouldn't even care what the jerk said but it still felt horrible after he had been there himself yesterday and she had even opened up to him about her personal life.

Although she knew he was rude and had a temper, he took it too far today. She didn't think she was up to another day of torture seeing him. So she made up her mind, no matter what happened she was not going to the agency tomorrow. At that moment the phone rang, and Kagome warily left the comfort of her bed and picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Hey Kagome, its Sango."

"Oh…what's up Sango?"

Kagome sat back on her bed and tucked her knees under her. She didn't try to hide the dejected tone in her voice.

"First of all how are _you_ holding up? Miroku told me what happened and why didn't you call me? I could've given you a lift! I know your place would've been out of my way but I can't believe you had to sit in a car with those two idiots. Men are such dogs and that stupid Inuyasha -"

"Miroku told you?' Kagome interrupted her friend's rambling and Sango sighed.

"Yeah he called me up and told me what happened and to check if you got home safely. He also said to apologize on his behalf for Inuyasha's behaviour. Although I don't see why Miroku should have to apologize for Inuyasha being an ass."

Kagome laughed lightly. "It's okay I'm not too worked up or anything," she lied. She didn't want Sango or Miroku worrying about her. "I've learned to ignore Inuyasha, it's not like we're friends or anything either."

"What'd he say exactly?"

"That I didn't care about the kids in my class and I had ulterior motives, not in so many words but he was actually cruder about it."

"Ulterior motives?" Sango asked.

"Yeah he thinks I'm there because of Koga."

"Oh wow. God, if it had been me I would've beaten him up. Anyone with half a brain cell could see how much you care about those kids. And what does it matter to him if you like Koga or not?" Sango fumed.

"I don't know, he only met the guy yesterday and he already has something against him. Koga was a perfect gentleman too." Sango hummed in agreement.

"You're still going to the photo shoot tomorrow right? I think I'll come with you for support."

Kagome winced. "Um, actually Sango I wasn't planning on going…"

"Not too worked up huh?" Sango said jokingly.

"Ugh, okay Sango I was completely livid. I don't think I'd be able to see him without pushing him off a cliff!"

She heard Sango's surprised laugh. "Even though I'd love to see Inuyasha get pushed off a cliff and onto the pointy end of a rock, you won't have to do that because Miroku said he'd take you to Mike Claire's studio himself. That way you and dog-boy can stay out of each others way."

"I don't know Sango…" Kagome bit her lip. She was hoping she could take the coward's way out and not even have to deal with this modelling business she'd gotten herself into.

"But Kagome, think of all the effort you put into preparing and getting ready for this. Not to mention you need this opportunity for dance school. Are you going to let one big jerk just ruin all that?"

"Not a chance," Kagome confirmed without hesitation.

Sango was right, she had spent a great deal of time torturing herself for this stupid photo shoot and she'd be damned if she was going to let Inuyasha get the better of her. She'd go tomorrow and be completely neutral and if she saw him, she would pretend nothing ever happened. She hadn't had that moment with him in the dance studio and she definitely did not think of him as anything more than a co-worker.

"And look at the bright side," Sango was saying, "you only have to do this for two weeks then you're off the hook and Inuyasha…well he's Kikyo's problem."

The next day Kagome woke up bright and early, scarfed down a quick breakfast and made it to the agency in record time. She was ready for this. It may have been a little difficult getting sleep last night, but she was ready nonetheless. She had even managed to go over some questions that Mike Claire might ask her in her "interview". Why Inuyasha had used air quotations when he'd mentioned it to her earlier that week, she didn't know.

'Ugh, stop thinking about him Kagome.' She chastised herself. As long as Inuyasha stayed out of her way today everything would go great.

"Hey," she said coming up to the receptionist's desk. "I'm supposed to meet Miroku here so he can take me to my photo shoot. Can you call him down please?"

The receptionist smiled, knowing Kagome by now. "Sorry Kagome, but he hasn't come in yet."

Kagome frowned. "Are you sure? He said he'd be waiting for me."

The receptionist shook her head. "I'm sure. He always says hello to me before he goes up to his floor." She rolled her eyes. "Plus he uses a new pick-up line everyday, it's become an everyday routine now… so I'd know if he came through here."

Kagome laughed. "I'm guessing Sango isn't here either?" the receptionist nodded in confirmation.

"Alright I'll just wait over here until they come."

She plopped herself down into one of the cushiony waiting room chairs and began flipping through a magazine. Minutes ticked by and Kagome looked at the clock that hung on the wall.

What was taking so long? She decided that she'd wait a little bit more and if Miroku still didn't show up she'd give him a call. So she picked up another magazine and began skimming lazily.

"Kagome!"

The said girl looked up to see Sango striding towards her. Getting up she met Sango in front of the doors. Sango looked a little out of breath and her cheeks were rosy from the chilly weather outside.

"Hey, what took you so long?" Kagome asked. Sango grimaced; her friend was not going to like what she had to say.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news Kagome," she said warily "but Miroku won't be able to make it."

"What? But who's going to take me to the photo shoot?" Kagome asked. This was not going according to plan…

As if to answer her question, right then the front door was pulled open and in walked Inuyasha. He spotted Kagome and Sango and for a second looked like a deer caught in the headlights. He seemed to be mentally debating if he should come over and finally making up his mind, he walked over to the two of them, clearing his throat.

"Good morning ladies." He said genially.

"Good morning Inuyasha," Sango replied. And then Inuyasha risked a glance at Kagome, hoping to gauge her reaction. He was expecting anger, annoyance or possibly even frustration but her face remained completely neutral.

"Morning." She said curtly. There was nothing 'good' about today, she thought.

Inuyasha just stared at Kagome, not knowing what to say next. Last night he had been thinking it over, and in the end decided that he'd just apologize and get it over with then the only relationship between them would be of model and agent. Completely professional.

Before he could open his mouth however, Sango beat him to it.

"Inuyasha, Miroku won't be able to take Kagome to the shoot today. He got really sick last night and in the morning he called to let me know but he sounded really bad and he's alone so I'm going to take care of him until he gets better." She turned to Kagome with a pleading look. "I'm really sorry Kagome but I hope you'll understand."

Kagome's face softened and she put an arm around her friend. "Hey, it's totally fine. Miroku's health is much more important. You go ahead and make sure he gets better."

Sango smiled gratefully. "Thanks Kag. Inuyasha do you think you could take her there?" as she said this she turned and gave Inuyasha a look. It said "if you mess this up I'll castrate you."

Inuyasha shrugged. "If Kagome wants to, then sure."

Kagome pursed her lips. He was pretty smart, making it up to her, as if it were her choice. She did not want to be anywhere near Inuyasha the big jerk face today but she wasn't going to let him make her look bad in front of her friend.

"Let's get going then." She said.

* * *

Review PLEASE...it would mean the world :)


	11. Your Guardian Angel

A/N: Just a random note, The title of this chapter is the song of the same name, "Your Guardian Angel" by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. I've honestly never heard any of their songs except for this one but it is absolutely beautiful and it's really what I had on repeat the whole time I was writing this. I recommend anyone with a good taste in music to go listen to it…now! :) It makes me want to be in loove. *sigh* Ok, anyway... on with the story!

* * *

**Chapter Eleven: Your Guardian Angel**

* * *

Inuyasha's eyes darted towards his passenger seat. So far they had driven in complete and utter silence and it hung around the two like a thick blanket. Inuyasha had tried turning the radio on, but his car radio was known for not cooperating with him and after a few moments of fiddling he had given up. Kagome had not bothered to even look at him since they had set off. Which was okay, since he guessed she might still be angry from their previous encounter but he _had_ held the door open for her before she got in, that deserved a thank-you at least…right?

He glanced at the young girl again. Her whole body was positioned away from him and she was practically pressed against the passenger door, her head turned towards the window and one hand propping up her chin. He really didn't want to do it, but he could not take one more moment of this awkward silence. This was it, the moment of truth.

"Kagome," he began and waited for her to answer. She stayed turned away from him, pointedly staring out the window with a blank expression.

"Kagome." He tried again. "Look, I know you're pissed-" He broke off when she turned and her eyes met his giving him a withering glare. Obviously she was more than pissed.

"Inuyasha," she said curtly. "I know neither of us wants to be here, so I'd like to get to the photo shoot and back without having to speak to you, thank you very much."

"Will you please let me finish? You didn't even give me a chance." he growled impatiently, trying to keep his eyes on the road.

"No. I don't care about _anything_ you have to say." She said, her voice wavering with anger. She turned away again, this time crossing her arms over her chest. Anger was an understatement. Kagome had tried, she really had. It was really unfortunate that Miroku had come down with something and couldn't be the one to chaperone her but she still didn't want to be anywhere near Inuyasha. It was only because she knew Sango would choose her over Miroku if she had made a big deal that she went along with it. She had thought that maybe they'd get there and back without having to speak to one another and that would be that, but Inuyasha had to go and ruin things like always.

Inuyasha let out a frustrated breath and slowed the vehicle to a stop as they approached a red light.

"I want… to apologize for what I said yesterday." He said this slowly, and risked another glance in her direction. She was frowning.

Kagome hadn't expected an apology, and she had to be honest, she was surprised he was actually acting his age for once. But he really had gone too far and an apology wasn't going to cut it.

"I don't care."

Inuyasha scoffed. Was the woman mad? He had just apologized, and sincerely too! It wasn't even a blue moon.

"You obviously care." When she turned narrowed eyes on him he continued, "Judging by how you've been sulking since you got into my car."

She didn't say anything and returned to staring out the window. Inuyasha fumed, at a loss of what to do next. Maybe it was just that time of month…

"Hey, we have to work together, whether you like it or not. And you can't go around acting like a child. So just accept my apology or I'll keep bugging you until you do." He opened his mouth to say more but she turned to him once again.

"Okay." she said simply. "You're forgiven."

"You don't even mean that!" He said incredulously.

"You're right," she replied, her calm tone fading as her voice rose in volume. "I don't mean it. And why should I? You can't get away with saying something so rude and hurtful then expect me to trip over myself trying to ease your guilt!"

"God woman, I just _apologized_! Do you hear me? I actually said sorry. I never apologize to anyone. What more do you want from me?" Inuyasha realized he was clenching the steering wheel enough so that his claws were nicking the leather.

Kagome let out a frustrated breath, her own fury barely controlled. "What I _want_ Inuyasha, is to get my job done. You don't want me acting like a child, then fine. Let's drop this subject. I don't know what went wrong between us so suddenly but it doesn't matter anymore. From now on this is strictly business. You just keep up your end of the bargain and I'll keep up mine."

"Strictly business? Fine with me." Inuyasha spat.

"Great." Kagome replied, returning to her previous position.

The rest of the ride passed in stony silence.

* * *

"Sango, I'm fine." The voice from the bathroom said reassuringly and then the sound of retching was heard.

Sango, who was in the kitchen was alarmed by the noise and rushed into the bathroom to find Miroku leaning over the toilet, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"It's nothing, I'm okay." Miroku said, out of breath.

Sango bent down and helped him up. "Miroku this is not nothing." She said, "Since I've been here you've vomited three times and…oh my God, you're burning up!"

She guided the two of them out of the bathroom and into Miroku's lone bedroom. His apartment was small, but he kept it tidy and clean.

When she had gotten him settled underneath the blankets and found his thermometer after rummaging through his medicine cabinet, she handed it to him.

"Sango I don't need this, I feel fine." Miroku said firmly, pressing it back into her hand.

"Miroku believe me when I tell you, you don't look fine." Her voice was laced with worry as she brushed his hair away from his face. "Now let me read your temperature, I think you have a fever."

This time he complied, taking the small device and putting it under his tongue. A few minutes later Sango read it and gasped.

"God, Miroku! You're at 103! I'm taking you to the hospital." Her mind made up she made to leave but he caught her hand and she looked down at his larger one with dread. His body temperature was too warm, how had she not noticed it before?

A panicked look flashed across Miroku's face. "No way, no doctors." He said. "I know you're worried Sango, but I'm feeling better….honest." he smiled charmingly at her but she could tell it was strained.

"I can't believe you, you're temperature is probably going up as we speak and you've already thrown up all your breakfast! You're probably delusional. What if something happens to you?"

She realized her voice was starting to sound shrill, but she didn't care. Miroku was flat out worrying her. Her younger brother Kohaku used to get sick a lot when he was younger but his fevers had never gone up so suddenly as Miroku's was.

Miroku sighed, tugging her hand lightly so she'd come closer to him. "I swear, I'm not in any immediate danger." He chuckled. "It's just the stomach flu or something. I just need some rest. If I sleep it off I promise I'll wake up feeling brand new."

Sango hesitated, then nodded in agreement. Fine, but if his fever got any worse in the next fifteen minutes she was getting him to the nearest hospital even if she had to drag him there.

"Now come here," Miroku said, pulling her down to lie with him on the bed. He wrapped his arms around her waist and she snuggled in. "After all, you're the only medicine that'll work on me."

* * *

Inuyasha parked the car then turned on Kagome. He had meant to debrief her earlier, but after their little argument he didn't want to be the first one to end the silent treatment. But he had no choice and the stupid girl had a point, they were both acting pretty childish and they'd be going nowhere fast if they didn't stick to professionalism. As an agent, he had to make sure his models were perpared, Kagome would be no exception and now they were finally at Mike Claire's villa. The guy was insanely rich and had no problem showing it off. The house itself was stretched out over a vast expanse of land that looked spotless from the freshly trimmed bushes to the ornate fountain situated in the front garden.

"Okay, this is what's going to happen." He began, pausing to to make sure he had her undivided attention. "We're going to head in; we don't know how long he'll make us wait. Sometimes you'll have to sit there for hours and sometimes you'll be told he wants to meet with you right away. When Mike comes to get you, I won't be going along and you'll be on your own. After that he'll take you to the studio where he's going to talk to you. He does this 'cause he's a nut case and he likes to get into the minds of the girls he's going to work with. He hasn't worked with Kikyo before so I don't know exactly what to tell you to expect although other models have experience with him and he's pretty predictable." Inuyasha took a breath then looked intently at Kagome who seemed a bit nervous, as if she was going in to write an exam instead of pose for a couple of pictures.

Agents didn't tend to do what he was about to do next, in fear of scaring their models away and Inuyasha knew he was supposed to keep it professional between them, but he still wasn't going to let the girl go in without knowing what she was getting into.

"And another thing," he said, all seriousness. "This Mike guy is sort of a flirt. I mean practically all the striaght men in this business are but that's to be expected. Now he's been known for coming on to his models but so far none of the models at our agency have ever complained about any problems, if you know what I mean. But remember Kagome, you're supposed to be Kikyo so act experienced and confident. And as long as it's harmless, don't be afraid of his advances." He slanted the young girl a look. She had opened her mouth as if she wanted to object but he couldn't let her change her mind right now, they had work to do.

"Now get up and let's get going. We're wasting time." Inuyasha got out of the car and headed to the entrance doors.

Kagome stayed put. "Jeez, would it have killed him to say good luck?"

Inuyasha's little speech had done nothing for her frazzled nerves but it was too late to back out and she was determined to get this done and over with as soon as possible. Besides, Francoise would _kill_ her if he found out all his hard work was for nothing. Steeling herself, she stepped out of the car, the filmy material of the dress Francoise picked out for her flowing around her. She had to admit, she even felt a little like Kikyo now that she was really in her shoes. She joined Inuyasha at the large entrance doors and before Inuyasha could even ring the doorbell, the door opened to reveal a young woman in a maid's uniform.

"Good afternoon," Inuyasha said. "We're here to see Mike Claire. You can tell him Kikyo Kinto's here."

The maid took one look at Kagome and her smile faltered. Kagome exchanged confused looks with the hanyou.

"Uh, yes…right this way." she said her smile returing. I'll go get him while you two wait in the lounge."

She led them to a large room with expensive looking furnishing. If the outside of the house looked great, the inside was even better. Kagome looked around in awe; this room alone was the size of half her house.

The maid left them and Inuyasha lowered himself into one of the couches. Ha laid his head back and his eyes slid closed. He was preparing for a long wait but as soon as Kagome and he had settled in, both still keeping their distance mind you, a man walked into the room.

"My, you look even lovelier in person." The man drawled as he came to stand in front of Kagome. Kagome had to force herself not to let her jaw go slack. The guy was absolutely gorgeous. He looked like he was in his late twenties that was certain yet his flawless skin and chiselled features gave him a youthful glow. She shot Inuyasha an uncertain look, she was going to have a hard time not ogling the guy but by the way Inuyasha had spoken of him he had practically painted the picture of a lecherous old man in her mind.

'Be confident,' Kagome though to herself. 'Like Kikyo…'

She plastered on a smile and got up, "I'm Kikyo, and it's nice to finally meet you Mike." She said trying her best to adapt Kikyo's tone of voice. If the tapes of Kikyo's interviews Francoise had shown her were anything to go by that meant speaking in a calm, collected manner. It was a good thing she had taken drama classes throughout her high school year or she'd have trouble keeping a straight face.

She extended her hand to shake, but instead Mike took hers in his and brought it to his lips. "The pleasure is all mine." He said in a seductive voice and Kagome was sure she was blushing like a mad woman by now. It was practically like having a hot movie star right in front of her.

Inuyasha however was not as affected by Mike's appearance. Actually he was more ticked off that he was being ignored _again_. Fuck, like he cared if the two were making eyes at each other. He just wanted to get his work done. He cleared his throat and both Mike and Kagome looked at him.

The older man reluctantly let go of his hold on Kagome's hand and grinned at Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha right? Nice to meet you buddy." He shook his hand firmly. "I gotta say I'm glad you brought such a beautiful woman to my studio. I've been seeing Kikyo's face on every magazine for the past couple of days and I was restless to take some shots of my own."

"Yeah, she's really something." Inuyasha said, his slightly sarcastic tone going unnoticed by Mike as he turned his attention back on Kagome. He slid his arm around her waist and led her towards the door.

"Come on, we better get started." Kagome only nodded, still too dazzled by Mike as she was lead out the door.

"Inuyasha you can wait here, the maid will get you some refreshments." Mike called out as an afterthought.

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at their retreating backs. He noticed Mike's hand was a little too low on Kagome's waist to be appropriate but the girl was too busy basking in the guy's presence to even notice.

Inuyasha flopped back down, stretching himself out on the couch. Well, he had no real obligation to Kagome and he was definitely not her freaking babysitter so why should he give a damn? She sure seemed taken with Mike and if the photographer liked her as much as he said he did, then things would go a lot smoother for everyone. He sighed and once again prepared himself for a long wait.

Meanwhile, Kagome was taken to the Mike's personal studio which was not too far away from the lounge. It was on the same floor yet was far bigger in space than the previous room. She could immediately tell by the array of photography equipment that Mike was one very professional photographer.

He guided her into the room then gently closed the door behind them. Upon Kagome's questioning look, he explained, "Oh, it's so I don't get distracted while we shoot. Photography is an art, to capture the right moment I have to be in the right mood."

Kagome nodded in agreement although she was really wondering how he could expect anyone to walk in when the whole place seemed practically empty save for the maids. She suddenly felt a hum of anxiety and she couldn't tell why. Mike looked like a pretty nice guy so far so there was nothing to worry about.

Kagome stood in the center of the room, not knowing what to do next. Mike looked at her and laughed. "It's okay take a seat, relax…we won't be shooting until later."

He pulled out a stool for her and she perched on it, smoothing her dress around her.

He took a seat as well and gave her another one of his dazzling smiles. "You know, you're really very gorgeous and from what I've seen of you in the media you're talented as well."

Kagome blushed again, she hoped that was okay. She hadn't met Kikyo yet but she had a feeling she was hardly the blushing type.

"Thank you, although I'd have to say you're very handsome yourself. I'm actually surprised you're not the one modelling." She figured buttering him up would get her in his good graces and then they could _finally_ get to work. She was getting anxious.

Mike laughed lightly, leaning closer to her. "Believe it or not, I actually did do some modelling many years ago. I just felt more comfortable behind the camera anyway so I gave that up. But let's get back to you, you're career has spiralled upwards just recently and that can only mean one thing."

Kagome was clueless. "And what would that be?"

"That you're single." He smirked. "A woman is only successful when a man isn't holding her back." Kagome resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the last part. She personally didn't think a man had anything to do with a woman's career; a woman could be in a relationship and still make her way to the top regardless. As for the single bit, she actually didn't know. Was Kikyo single? Inuyasha had never mentioned anything about a boyfriend in the picture so she was just going to play it safe.

"You're right." She said with a smile. "I am single. I guess I haven't had time to socialize as much as I wanted to." She was really going out on limb here.

"I'm glad to hear that." Mike replied looking straight into her eyes as he said so. Kagome once again got that unnerving feeling.

"So…are we going to start shooting soon?" she asked.

"My, you're quite eager. But if that's what you want let's get to it." He flashed another one of his charming smiles but by now they were having less of an affect on her. His smiles were hollow and empty. Kagome hoped she could go home soon.

Mike led her to a corner of the room where there was a small stool behind a white background. "You just do you're thing. I'll just take a few shots but these won't be the real ones that you'll use in your portfolio. I'd like to get a feel of what I want to do for the real thing."

Kagome nodded and got to work. At first she was sure she looked as awkward as she was feeling but Mike just kept giving her encouraging smiles as he snapped picture after picture and eventually she got the flow of things and the poses were coming naturally.

"Wow." Mike said breathlessly as he finally lowered the camera. "You're one of the few models that I find easy to work with."

Kagome flushed red. She wasn't used to receiving so much praise especially from a handsome member of the opposite sex. "Thanks!" she chirped happily. "Are we going to start with the real shots now?"

Mike nodded but he looked as if he was deep in thought. "You know, there's something different about the shots I took though." He frowned slightly. "You look different."

Fear gripped Kagome as she scrambled for something to say. '_Oh please don't let him figure it out…'_

"I-I don't know what you mean."

Mike stared hard at her and for a second Kagome thought that she was done for but then he shook his head and laughed. "It's probably the lighting or something."

Kagome let out a shaky breath she didn't even know she was holding. "I trimmed my hair last week. That could be it." She laughed nervously, wary of his response.

He hummed in agreement already having moved on from his suspicion. Then he took her arm and guided her to another corner of the room where there was a different background set up. This time instead of the plain white, there was a brick wall prop complete with a vine trailing along it and some random graffiti to top it off.

"You can use the props for your poses."

Kagome stood in front of the wall, worrying her bottom lip. She didn't really know what he expected from her. Use the wall how?

Mike noticed her uncomfortable look and put down his camera. "Here, let me help." He stepped closer to her, pushing her so her back was against the wall. Kagome held her breath, suddenly aware of how close to her he really was. He reached up to fix her hair around her shoulders, arranging it the way he liked. She looked up to see him looking at her with that intense look in his eyes again.

He took another step towards her, this time his body lining up with hers and she could feel the blood rush to her face. Mike smiled, oblivious to her distress. His hand travelled along her arm, which he had been holding and Kagome gave a start.

"Wh-what are you doing?" she asked alarm evident in her voice.

Mike ignored her and seemed to move in even closer, if that was possible. She could smell his cologne; feel the heat rolling of his body.

"Shh…" he murmured into her hair and she felt him inhale. "Just relax." And then his hand moved towards her thigh and she froze, panic seized her and all she could feel was his warm hands on her skin.

"Let go of me." She said, but her voice came out as a choked whisper.

Mike laughed humourlessly. "Oh Kikyo, stop playing games. It was hard enough sitting there making idle talk with you. You can only stall for so long." He brought his lips close to her ear. "You don't have to do much. Just take it easy and let me do the work. Then we can take your little pictures, I promise." His lips grazed her ear and Kagome felt sick.

This was not happening to her. This was not how it was supposed to go. She was suddenly _very_ angry.

"Let go of me!" she cried again this time, her voice returning with full force. She brought up both her hands to push him off her but he was faster and suddenly he had her hands pinned to the side.

"You little slut!" Mike bit out as he tightened his grip on her painfully. Kagome glared at him. "You did _not_ just waste my time coming in here. You won't get anywhere without a few sacrifices Kikyo. Believe me, every girl I've worked with has done this. There's no need to feel shy." He coaxed and his eyes met hers with that look again and Kagome knew what it was. He was looking at her like she was fresh meat on a platter. He inched his hand higher up her leg and tears pricked Kagome's eyes.

"You're a disgusting pig!" she cried. She was not going to let him win without a fight. She wrenched around and tried to knee him in the groin but he used his legs to pin her own. "Ugh! Let go of me!"

"You're making this harder on yourself." He grunted, not loosening his hold.

"Inuyasha's out there." Kagome suddenly realized. "If you don't let me go right now I'll scream." She wished she could find solace in that fact but she knew the house was humongous and Inuyasha was in the lounge way down at the end of the hall. Since the door was closed her voice wouldn't even travel that far. And then another horrific thought hit her. If he heard, would he even care?

Mike made no move to let her go, he didn't even seemed phased at all. Regardless, she opened her mouth and screamed as loud as she could.

"INUYASH-" she was cut off halfway when Mike's lips crashed down on hers in a bruising kiss.

* * *

Inuyasha was bored out of his mind. He flipped open his phone and glanced down at the time. Great, another freaking half an hour passed. He was tired of being bored and he was debating going into his car to wait but then realized it wouldn't be worth the effort of getting up since his stupid radio refused to play. He let out a jaw cracking yawn and laid his head back down on the cushions.

He had a fleeting thought of leaving and going to see Kikyo but then he remembered he was Kagome's ride back home. He scowled. Stupid wench was taking up all his time. Maybe he could just leave and that idiot Mike guy could take her home. But he knew he wouldn't leave Kagome on her own. Even though she was the most infuriating wench he had ever met not to mention at the moment they were both not on speaking terms, he was still obligated to bring her back or Sango and Miroku would kill him. Miroku was known for his monk-like patience but when he got mad

"INUYASH-" He shot up and looked towards the hall. Did someone just scream his name? He waited for another sound but none came. Maybe he was hearing things? No, he was certain he'd heard it. It was muffled and barely audible but his hearing was far better than an average human beings and he had heard it clearly. It was a woman no doubt and the voice was oddly familiar.

Then it hit him. Fuck. It was Kagome.

And he was off before he could tell his legs to move.

Luckily he was fast, really fast and he was able to tell which room she was in just by trailing her scent. "Kagome?" he called. He skidded to a stop in front of a closed door and twisted the handle only to find it locked. He could hear muffled noises coming from inside and fear gripped him. He clenched his teeth as he backed up and hit the door with his shoulder, popping it open. He barged inside and looked around frantically.

"Kagome!"

Then he saw her.

She was pinned against the wall, eyes clenched as Mike kissed her brutishly, his hands tugging at her dress. He turned around at the sound of the door hitting the wall.

For a second Inuyasha saw red and then it was gone and he lunged at the man, pulling him off Kagome before he even had a chance to realize what was happening.

It all happened so fast, Kagome barely had time to take it all in. One moment, Mike had his mouth over hers and the next she felt his weight lifted right off her. She opened the eyes she had screwed shut, the tears still falling as she watched dazed as Inuyasha brought his fist down on Mike over and over again.

"You fucking bastard!" he roared and even Kagome trembled at the fury behind it.

"S-stop!" Mike pleaded, his face bloodied.

Inuyasha dragged him up by his lapels and shoved him against the wall. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't end your pitiful existence right now." He hissed.

Even through his badly bruised and battered face Mike laughed cynically.

"You asshole. You're going to regret laying a hand on me." He wheezed, blood dripping out of the side of his mouth. "You two are nothing. I could ruin both your careers in second. She's not even Kikyo is she? I knew it. Wait until the press gets wind of this."

Inuyasha growled threateningly. "You say a word about it to anyone and I'll make it my personal goal to rearrange that pretty face of yours. And then I'll contact the police and let them handle you. I'm pretty sure no one takes too kindly to sexual assaults on underage _girls_."

He let him go and the battered Mike fell to the ground in a pathetic heap. Then he turned to Kagome who had slid to the ground and was looking at him wide-eyed, her mascara running and her face stained with tears. He walked towards her slowly, afraid that he might scare her off. But she just looked at him with a blank face.

He noticed her dress was torn at the shoulder and he clenched his jaw. He quickly shrugged out of his jacket however and knelt beside her and he covered her with it.

"I'm so sorry Kagome." He said earnestly and their eyes met.

In a second, she had buried her face in his shoulder and clutched at him as if her life depended on it. He had come for her, and right now none of their past arguments seemed to matter. It was obvious he cared for her and even though she had just gone through something so traumatising, it gave her some peace to know that.

Inuyasha didn't hesitate to bring his arms around her either. He held her close and rocked her back and forth.

"Inuyasha," she sniffled. "Take me home."

* * *

A.N: Okay wow that was a hard one! I promised a long chapter and I did it! Yay for perseverance! Haha but really, this one was really difficult to write seeing as I had to put so much work off to really get to it. That scene with Mike assaulting Kagome was sort of a tough one for me too since I had no idea how I wanted it to play out. But there you go, it has happened. Okay on to another important note! Since I practically slaved away over this chapter I would REALLY like some reviews. Like seriously come on, I don't want reviews just for the heck of it I actually want to see some positive or negative feedback. Constructive criticism would be ok too. It's really not about the number of reviews for me, honestly one good review telling me what that particular reader liked or disliked makes up for twenty random ones but if there is nothing I won't feel inclined to write. I'm not kidding my muse goes away after a couple days and it could be years before I get it back. I'd actually like to finish the story really soon! So I'm asking, please please please take a minute out of your busy lives to write a review seeing as I took days out of my own busy life to get you the next chapter. Other than that I hope you ALL enjoyed it. 'Till next time!


	12. Kagome's New Friend

AN: Here's the chapter, like I promised. Enjoy!

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**Chapter Twelve: Kagome's New Friend**

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* * *

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Inuyasha tried to focus on his driving, but that proved very difficult when every part of him wanted to turn the car around and beat up that scumbag some more. He wouldn't of course, after all his priority was getting Kagome safely home before he screwed up anything else. Instead he gripped the steering wheel tighter, trying to imagine the scrawny neck of a certain rich photographer as he did so. Although at the moment to be honest, he was really blaming himself.

It had been _his_ plan. He was responsible for Kagome…and he had let her down. He could have paid more attention, waited for her outside the door, or even done some more research on that asshole before he practically handed her over to him on a silver platter. He ground his teeth, the idea of turning around to finish what he started seemed more appealing than ever. He needed a good punching bag right about now.

"Inuyasha, can I ask you something?"

Inuyasha's ears swivelled in the young girl's direction as he caught her quiet voice. He had to admit, she was quite the trooper. She had sobbed into his shoulder when he held her back at the studio but almost as soon as they had come, her tears disappeared and she seemed to remember herself as some of that old, confident Kagome was slowly but surely coming back. He was glad for that because although he wouldn't admit it, it had pained him to see her so helpless.

He always had been quite horrible at dealing with women and tears but seeing Kagome cry was worse.

"You okay?" he asked in return and then felt like smacking his head against the steering wheel. What a stupid question. Of course she wasn't okay. She had just been taken advantage of by a pervy older man and here he was being an idiot by reminding her.

Kagome gave him a weak smile and he felt some relief. "I could be better, but under the circumstances, yeah I'm okay."

"I'm sorry." He blurted and then turned his eyes back on the road. Inuyasha wasn't much for apologizing, but he meant it. There was no way he could make up for his stupid mistake but she had to know that he was sorry.

Kagome turned to look at him, but Inuyasha stared straight ahead, looking more worn out than she'd ever seen him. She remembered him saying sorry before, back when he had held her but she had no idea why….could he really think that she blamed him?

"It's not your fault." She said quickly. Kagome truly believed that. He wasn't the one who forced women to choose between their dignity and their career. Inuyasha wasn't the bad guy here. Underneath that tough exterior, he had seemed genuinely worried and she knew he wasn't the friendliest person, but at least he had comforted her while she cried.

Inuyasha didn't seem to share her opinion. He laughed humourlessly. "Yeah, it is my fault. Whose fucking genius idea was it in the first place? Mine. I should have known better." He shook his head, a frown marring his features. Kagome bit her lip, he looked really torn up about it and it was really touching but she didn't want him to think that she held him responsible for what happened.

"I don't care what you say, but I don't blame you." Kagome said in a softly. "You couldn't have predicted what kind of person he'd turn out to be. You hadn't even met him before."

Inuyasha remained silent then turned his troubled eyes on her her, he looked like he needed to say something.

"Kagome he didn't…I mean, did that asshole do anything…" Inuyasha didn't know how to finish that sentence.

Kagome looked down at her hands folded in her lap, her hair falling like a curtain over her shoulders and obscuring her face from his view.

"No." she said so quietly it was almost a whisper. Then she cleared her throat and tried again, this time trying to get past the lump in her throat and hoping she could keep the tears at bay. "No, he groped me and kissed me, but you got there before..." she trailed off. Even she wasn't able to say it. She didn't _want_ to think of what would have happened had Inuyasha not heard her scream.

Inuyasha sighed. He wished he could say something comforting, to show her that he was there for her, but he'd never been good with words. She may have forgiven him, but he wouldn't forgive himself although he wasn't going to argue with her right now. They'd done so much of that the past few days, and now it almost seemed that they had gotten past it all.

"So what was it you were going to say?" he asked after a while. "Before I interrupted you?"

"Oh." Kagome looked away, suddenly uncomfortable. "I was…well, I wanted to ask if I could stay at your place?"

At Inuyasha's baffled expression she hurriedly went on, "Just for a couple of hours though….I mean if that's okay with you?"

She saw his eyebrows knit together in confusion. "Yeah it's fine with me, but I thought you wanted me to take you home?"

"I was thinking about that, and I realized I can't show up looking like this." she explained, motioning to herself. Not only had her makeup started to run when she'd cried, but her hair had come out of the intricate hairdo the stylists had worked on and it was all mussed up. "My family would take one look at me and freak out and besides my mom can read me like a book. I can't let her know what happened otherwise she'll never let me set foot in the agency ever again."

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. "Is that what you're worried about?" he asked. He took the silence as a yes. "Well I'm sorry Kagome but you just got _sexually assaulted_ by a man. You won't need to come back to the agency. The deal's off."

"You can't be serious!" she said, turning on him.

He ignored her protest. "I'm serious. This was the shittiest plan I've ever come up with and I'm ending it. Now."

"But I need to get into that school!" Kagome pleaded, turning desperate eyes on him. "I _need_ the deal, it gave me an opportunity that people in my position barely ever get and-"

"Don't worry." Inuyasha said, interrupting her before she finished her rant. "The agency will still pay for you… _all_ your first year entrance fees. You held up your end of the bargain and after what's happened it's the least I can do for you."

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried in exasperation. "That's not the point. I'm not going to mooch off of you if I haven't even finished the job. Kikyo still has to show up to that fashion show. How do you plan on dealing with that? You need me, I know you do."

He kept his eyes on the road. "I won't have to deal with it. I'll have to pull her out. It's as simple as that."

"But Inuyash-"

"Kagome," Inuyasha said, cutting her off once more. "Just listen to me for once okay? We can't do this anymore. It was a risky plan in the first place and now even that asshole knows about you. If he decides to tell anyone we're done for. Kikyo will become a mockery and her whole career could be over. I can't do that to her, and I can't put you through any more of this crap either."

"I told you not to worry about me Inuyasha. I'm fine, really. I'm sure things like that don't happen everyday and besides now we know better. Next time, I know you'll protect me. I trust you."

"There won't _be_ a next time." Inuyasha growled.

Kagome held up a hand. "Fine, but if you change your mind just let me know."

Inuyasha half-shrugged and went back to driving. Like that was ever going to happen. He couldn't believe her; after all of this she still wanted to work for him. Kagome was so naïve! He was giving her a way out and she didn't want to take it. Of course he'd have to deal with the losses later but he felt like he owed the girl. She was just too stupid and _nice_ to listen.

"Can I still come over to your place?" Kagome asked suddenly, effectively silencing his thoughts. "I'll need to fix myself up before I go home."

"Kagome, you have to let your mother know."

Inuyasha was half worried she'd want to hide what had happened today. He knew they couldn't really file a police report or anything…a fat lot of good that would do anyway. Mike Claire's money would influence the police more than their sense of justice and the charges would be weak regardless. That didn't mean Kagome had to keep quiet about it. That wasn't a good idea; he knew from experience how it felt like to be unable to get things off your chest. It always left you feeling helpless.

"I know, I know, I'm going to," Kagome said. "….just not right now and especially not while I look a mess. She'll take one look at me and faint."

Then she gasped as realization hit her. "Oh no, my eyes are probably all puffy and red from crying." She sighed dramatically and covered her face with her hands in embarrassment and Inuyasha shook his head. How could she sit there and act like everything was okay? She was back to happy, carefree Kagome already.

"You're really strange you know that?" he muttered, but allowed a small smile to creep onto his face as he said so. He kept his eyes on the road, slowing down as they approached a red light. Happy, carefree Kagome was just fine with him.

* * *

"Okay, I'm warning you now, I'm not good at cleaning up after myself so it could be a little messy in there."

Kagome and Inuyasha had just gotten out of the elevator and were headed towards his apartment door.

"Exactly how bad is it?" Kagome asked, thinking about her own room at home. Sometimes she'd keep a lock on her closest door just to keep things from tumbling out. What Mrs. Higurashi didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

Inuyasha grimaced, pulling out his keys. "Let's just say, sometimes I forget what color the carpeting is. Alright we're here, want me to warm up some ramen for you too?"

"It's okay. I'll just take a quick shower and be out of your hair." Inuyasha shrugged at her response, turning the key in its lock and pushing open the door to his apartment.

For a second, he thought he'd stumbled into someone else's home but then he recognized his furniture and he was awestruck. He was sure that morning when he left, the place had looked like a tornado had hit yet now it was clean and tidy like had come to visit.

Kagome peered at him accusingly. "I thought you said it was a mess? You weren't trying to scare me off were you?" when Inuyasha didn't respond, she pushed past him and headed inside, leaving him standing dumbfounded at the doorway.

"So Inuyasha, where's your bathroom? I think I'll just aaaah!" Kagome shrieked, clutching a hand over her heart as she saw a woman with her back towards her, sitting on a couch in front of the TV. Inuyasha suddenly appeared behind her.

The woman, who had turned around at Kagome's shriek now regarded her with a blank stare and then Kagome's racing heart calmed down enough to recognize who it was. _'Oh my God it's her!'_

"Kikyo? What are you doing here?" Inuyasha asked, stepping forward. He looked around with astonishment at the much cleaner than before living room. It wasn't completely spotless but someone had definitely tidied up his mess. "And what'd you do, hire an army of maids for me?"

Kikyo stood up slowly, she had been staring at Kagome but now she turned her attention to Inuyasha. "I just wanted to stop by and discuss some things. I let myself in. You gave me your spare keys remember? I couldn't stand looking at you clutter so I cleaned up." She shrugged as if it was no big deal.

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. Cleaning? Voluntarily? That was not something the Kikyo he knew did. She did often show up at his apartment but she always called first and he thought she'd be off enjoying her few days of freedom while she was off work to even give him the time of day.

"You actually put away all my stuff?" he asked, incredulously. He was sure there had been a load of paperwork and junk he'd been meaning to get to that had been sitting in the corner.

"No, that was too much work. I threw most of it out." Kikyo pointed to the three bloated garbage bags that were lined up behind him. "Some of your clothes were lying around too so I got rid of them. I can't believe you choose to live like this." She wrinkled her nose.

"What the fuck Kikyo? Some of that stuff was important!" Inuyasha groaned, running a hand through his hair.

Kikyo didn't even flinch. "Language Inuyasha," she reminded him keeping her calm.

"Whatever." He muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets. He heard Kagome shift uncomfortably beside him and realized he had completely forgotten her presence. Kikyo seemed to remember too and her eyes flicked over to the younger girl.

Kagome had watched their whole exchange in awe. She hadn't known that Inuyasha and Kikyo were close, but if he had given her keys to his apartment did that mean they were together? Inuyasha acted much more differently around Kikyo than he had with her. She recalled the time when she'd yelled at him for swearing in front of the children during their dance lesson and he'd been a jerk about it. When Kikyo reprimanded him he didn't even argue with her. Kagome felt an odd feeling stirring inside her and quickly dismissed the thought. No, they were probably nothing more than close friends. Years of working together was what probably made them lose that sense of formality…right?

An awkward moment passed in which none of them said a word and Kagome was sure she was blushing from all the attention so she instinctively pulled Inuyasha's jacket closer around her. Kikyo cocked her head to the side as she noticed that Inuyasha's jacket was draped over the younger girl.

"I don't believe we met before but you must be the girl Inuyasha hired." She conceded at last. Kagome didn't notice it, but Inuyasha was sure he'd heard an edge to her voice. It only then dawned on him that Kikyo might be getting the wrong impression with Kagome being in his apartment. The jacket he'd given Kagome didn't help matters either.

"Well?" Kikyo asked turning to him as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Introduce us already." Yeah Kikyo was mad alright.

Inuyasha hesitated then let out a frustrated breath. "Alright Kikyo, this is Kagome and Kagome that's Kikyo. Now you long lost twins can bond while I go make me some ramen." Not wanting to be questioned by a miffed Kikyo, he hastily left the room leaving Kagome to her own devices.

Kagome squirmed under Kikyo's penetrating stare.

"It's really nice to finally see you in person." Kagome managed to say amiably as she came over to shake Kikyo's hand.

"You too," Kikyo murmured distractedly as she took in Kagome's appearance. "I've wanted to see you for myself after Inuyasha told me how alike we looked."

She was still staring at Kagome with an odd look and Kagome furrowed her brow in confusion.

'_Is there something on my face?' _Kagome thought then blushed beet red when it hit her. She'd completely forgotten that she looked like a wreck.

"Oh! I gotta go…take a shower." she cried lamely and left the room in a hurry to the adjoining kitchen where Inuyasha was rummaging through his cabinets. Great, she finally managed to meet a celebrity and she looked horrible! Kikyo wasn't her role model or anything but she was still famous…and Kagome probably left the worst first impression ever.

"Inuyasha you could have told me you were going to have Kikyo over! I can't believe she saw me like this." Kagome whined as she ran over to him.

"What are you yakking about, didn't you hear her? She said she came on her own, how was I supposed to know?" He straightened and gave her a calculating look. "Wait a minute...are you a fan?"

Kagome's cheeks flamed red. "What no, why would I be a fan of her?" Inuyasha raised an eyebrow and Kagome realized what she'd said.

"I-I mean she's amazing and talented of course but I've just never been into this fashion stuff." She explained, trying to cover up.

Inuyasha leaned against the counter, smirking. "Then why are you so worried?" he asked patronizingly.

"Just shut up and tell me where your bathroom is." Kagome ordered as she glared at him. "I'll just take a quick shower and be out of your way."

Inuyasha laughed. "You sure you don't want to stay and get an autograph?"

Kagome kept glaring.

"Alright, alright… It's down the hall, and to the left."

"Thanks, stupid!" Kagome called out as she ran off in the direction of the bathroom.

"You're welcome…cow." Inuyasha muttered, turning back to the cabinet and pulling out a pack of ramen.

"Inuyasha?"

He turned around to find Kikyo leaning against the kitchen doorway, levelling a glare aimed towards him. He tried hard to hide his grimace.

"What's up?" _'Please don't ask about Kagome…'_

Kikyo didn't waste any time beating around the bush. "What is she doing _here_ and what the hell is going on?" Kikyo was frowning. She hadn't raised her voice, but Inuyasha could tell she was angry.

'_Oh crap...'_ Inuyasha thought. He was kinda hoping she hadn't noticed Kagome's presence at all although that was asking for too much. He'd had a long day and to top it all off now he'd have to do clear things up with Kikyo before she went into one of her mood swings again. It was the cherry on top of another crazy day.

"I can explain." He said quickly, and then realized how guilty it made him sound. He tried again. "Remember how I told you that I rescheduled the photo shoot? I took Kagome but then something…happened and then I had no choice. I had to bring her over."

Kikyo's frown deepened. "Did she mess it up?"

Inuyasha opened his mouth to explain but she didn't give him a chance.

"I just knew I shouldn't have let you go on with your plan. She's probably incapable of acting my part…I mean _look_ at her! I thought you said she looked like me? If Mike Claire is unhappy with her work then how does that make me-"

"Mike Claire," Inuyasha snapped, effectively ending her tirade, "is a fucking asshole. He forced himself on her…and if I hadn't gotten there in time things would have been a lot worse than your bad reputation. And you know what? She does look like you, that bastard hadn't known the difference until I burst in calling her name. It could have been you he was all over!"

Kikyo looked taken a back at his rough tone and then her expression turned back to nonchalance. Inuyasha, realizing that he came across too harsh sighed and stepped closer, taking her hand in his. Her skin felt cool against his. Her hands were always so cold.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. I just… had a very tough day."

Kikyo looked away, not ready to give in.

"That still doesn't explain why you brought her to _your_ apartment, or why she's taking a shower in _your_ bathroom." She said quietly.

Inuyasha smirked knowingly, placing his hands on Kikyo's waist and pulling her close. She acted like she didn't care, but he could see past that.

"You jealous?" he asked, smirk still fully in place.

Kikyo scoffed, turning to face him. "You wish."

"Well in that case, what really happened was that I took advantage of Kagome and because she's such a gullible young girl I thought I'd bring her back to my place so we could… you know, get it on some more." He winked.

Kikyo punched his arm. "You think you're _so_ funny." She said, but could feel the corners of her mouth tilting up in a small smile.

Inuyasha dipped his head down till his lips met hers but Kikyo pushed his chest firmly away.

"Don't be stupid, she could walk in here any moment." Kikyo chastised.

Inuyasha groaned. He hated that part of their relationship. It was kind of a secretive thing that not many people except the really close staff at the agency knew about. Miroku worked in the advertising part of the company but he'd found out in his own way.

Apparently Kikyo's image would look bad if people knew her boyfriend was her very own agent. An average man with nothing to his name. It was times like these that he wished that maybe he shouldn't have left home. He shook his head suddenly, trying to get rid of that thought. There was definitely no going back now.

Inuyasha pulled away, the mood having completely broken and went back to preparing his ramen.

He was waiting for the water to boil when it occurred to him that when Kagome came out of the shower she'd need a change of clothes.

"Kikyo, you gunna mind if I give Kagome some of my clothes to wear?"

Kikyo shrugged. "I don't care;" she said dismissively, "do what you want."

Inuyasha wanted to roll his eyes as he looked around for some clean eating utensils.

"Okay, could you hand her some? You might have to rummage around a bit to find something that might fit."

Kikyo pursed her lips. When Inuyasha had told her about Kagome and the plan, Kikyo had been rather satisfied. This was what she was waiting for, a break from all the crap she had to put up with constantly. All the go-sees, the appointments with fashion designers, the television commercials…it was all too much and frankly she was getting a little sick of it. So naturally she agreed with Inuyasha's plan but now that she thought about it, he was acting a bit differently and she had the distinct feeling that it had to do with Kagome.

"You seem to be awfully concerned about her. You like her don't you?" Kikyo remarked. She didn't say it accusingly, just stated it as a fact. That grated on Inuyasha's nerves.

"I don't like her." He snapped. "I just feel obligated to her. It's the least I could do after putting her through all that bullshit, which by the way was for _your_ career."

He began to load up the dirty dishes in the dish washer.

Kikyo simply shrugged. "If you feel so obligated, then give them to her yourself. Although she could just wear that dress again...it won't kill her."

Inuyasha clenched his jaw. He couldn't believe her. Kagome had been put in the worst situation possible, just so Kikyo's career would benefit and she didn't even care. He knew she was just acting that way because she was still angry about him having another girl over but this was fucking ridiculous.

"You can be such a bitch sometimes." He growled and stalked out of the kitchen, making it to his room.

That was it, their dysfunctional love-hate relationship in all its glory. He rummaged through his drawers until he found an old t-shirt of his from college. It would still be pretty big on Kagome, but it would work. Next he looked around for some sweat pants he could loan her until he found one that had draw strings at the waist which she could tighten so they wouldn't fall right off.

He walked over to the bathroom door. He could still hear the shower on which meant Kagome wasn't done yet.

"Kagome, I've got some clothes you can change into when you're done." He called out after knocking on the door. "I'm leaving them outside the bathroom door okay?"

There was a pause then the muffled sound of Kagome's voice. "Yeah, thanks Inuyasha!"

Inuyasha left them in a neat pile outside the door and then headed back to the kitchen only to find Kikyo gone. He walked back to the front of his apartment to see her pulling on her coat and preparing to leave. She hobbled over to the coffee table to grab her purse and Inuyasha remembered the cast on her broken leg.

"You're leaving?" he asked and she turned to give him a dirty look.

"What does it look like?"

He ignored her. "How are you getting home? You want me to give you a lift?"

"I think I'll manage. I've got the nurses waiting downstairs."

"Okay." Inuyasha said, getting the door for her. He didn't have the energy to get into an argument with Kikyo right now and it wouldn't help either way. When she got like this it was pointless to try and talk to her let alone stop her and to be honest, right now he didn't even want to stop her. "See you tomorrow."

"Yeah," she said. "Tomorrow." And she walked out of the door. Inuyasha sighed heavily, noticing he had been doing that a lot lately, and closed the door behind him.

He was slurping down his second bowl of ramen as he sat on the couch when he heard Kagome step into the room. He looked over his shoulder to see her standing there tentatively.

Her hair was still damp and she was wearing the shirt and sweatpants he'd left out for her.

"Thanks for the clothes. I hadn't even realized I would need any till I was in the shower." Kagome said, a slight blush creeping up her neck as she looked down at herself.

She had to admit, she'd never worn another man's clothing- well Kouga had let her borrow his jacket a couple of times but it was just worn over her own clothes- but this…it seemed more intimate yet surprisingly she didn't feel uncomfortable. Maybe she was just over thinking it, but Inuyasha's clothes felt just right on her. It made her feel safe.

Inuyasha patted the couch next to him and she came over to sit next to him. "It's no big deal. I could uh, whip up some ramen for you if you changed your mind?" he asked trying not to stare.

Okay, when he'd given Kagome his clothes to wear it had been a complete offhanded thing, he hadn't really thought about it. But seeing her standing there in his clothes made his stomach flop awkwardly. It wasn't that she looked bad, damn she actually looked good. They were hanging off her in a way that made her look cute and her tangles wet hair was actually very attractive. He put a hand to his stomach and made a face. Maybe he should have checked the expiration date on that pack of ramen he'd opened.

"It's okay, I'm not that hungry." She remarked then she looked around expectantly. "So where's Kikyo?"

Inuyasha wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and pushed the unfinished bowl of noodles away. "She had some things to do so she left."

"I see. I um, didn't know you two were that close though. Does she come over often?"

Kagome cocked her heard and regarded him with an innocent look as Inuyasha fumbled for a response.

"What, no! We're not _that_ close…I mean we are friends but she was just here to uh…discuss some things. I'm her agent so we usually meet to talk about her career… and stuff." He turned away and grimaced. Okay that was a lame cover up. Was it just him or was Kagome catching on?

Kagome though, was really just as oblivious as always. She smiled thoughtfully. "Well it's nice to know you can at least get along with _some_ people."

He raised his eyebrows. "What's that supposed to mean? I get along with loads of people."

Kagome laughed. "Up until now I'd say you've been the world biggest jerk to me." She had only meant it as a joke. She was really over it now. She'd already forgiven him for what he'd said before, their whole argument. It seemed so long ago. But Inuyasha didn't know that. He looked uncomfortable as he leaned back into the couch and avoided her eyes.

"I already apologized." He said, looking at his hands dejectedly.

"Whoa, don't strain yourself." Kagome quipped, trying to hide her smile. Inuyasha turned his golden eyes on her and she could see a small smile grace his lips when he finally realized she was joking.

The moment their eyes met though, the atmosphere changed and Kagome found herself feeling like she had back when she was at her dance studio. Once again, she couldn't seem to tear her eyes away from him and it made her heart thump awkwardly in her chest. Inuyasha didn't seem that eager to look away either.

Once again he too was finding it hard to break eye contact. He could feel his body leaning unconsciously towards her. What was wrong with him? He had a girlfriend. He had a hot, albeit a little crazy model for a girlfriend. He wasn't supposed to be caught up staring into the eyes of a girl like Kagome. He knew where he stood with Kikyo. He could tell they were the same. They fought a lot but they were made of the same stuff. They were both alone, and that was what connected them. Kagome was the complete opposite. She was too darned happy and nice and forgiving and... and…she smelled _really_ good. His eyes roamed her face and he could hear her heart beat speed up.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome's voice was barely a whisper. She was beyond confused. She could see that he was lost in his own thoughts but to be honest at the moment she was a little lost too.

Inuyasha sucked in a breath. He had cancelled the deal, and there was nothing to keep Kagome coming back to the agency. In the recesses of his mind it occurred to him that this was probably the last time they'd see each other.

Kagome's lips parted unconsciously and he felt himself move further in until his face was only a few inches away from hers.

The spell was broken however, when the shrill noise of a ringing phone interrupted them. They both jumped as the noise was so startling after the comfortable silence they'd been sitting in only moments before.

Kagome turned away quickly, trying to hide her obvious blush and suddenly finding the coffee stain on Inuyasha's table to be very interesting to look at.

"_Was he…was Inuyasha about to _kiss_ me?" _The thought alone made her flush again.

The two sat there, the telephone wailing in the background, as they tried to gather their wits. Inuyasha sat with his mouth hanging open and his mind racing. Holy shit, what the hell was he thinking? He would have kissed her if it wasn't for that phone call. Realizing the phone was still ringing, he turned and grabbed the receiver. If anything it was a good distraction from what could have gone down just seconds ago.

"Hello?" he asked and frowned when he noticed his voice sounded a little hoarse. He cleared his throat lightly.

There was a pause on the other end then a familiar voice reached his ears.

"Inuyasha, I believe we need to talk."

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes fighting the urge to slam the phone down. Mike Claire had some nerve calling him.

* * *

The sky was a lovely blend of pink and orange hues as the sun set behind the Higurashi family shrine and Kagome looked up at her home with a small smile. Sometimes during her hectic life she forgot to stop and take in the beauty of this place. It was serene and peaceful and it was home. She'd grown up in their little house, she'd scraped her knees once when she'd tripped up the shrine steps while racing Souta, she'd cried under the Sacred Tree when her father had left… there were just so many memories entwined with this place and it made the shrine house seem even more special. She stood gazing up at it from the bottom of the steps with Inuyasha.

"This whole place belongs to your family?" Inuyasha asked and Kagome turned her gaze away from her home and nodded.

"Grandpa inherited it from his father who inherited it from his father who inherited it form-"

"Okay, I get it." Inuyasha said. "But why doesn't your family sell it or renovate the place and build a larger house?" When he saw Kagome's appalled face he smirked. "I saw the way you looked at Mike's mansion."

"Yeah I mean I'd love a bigger house, but tearing down the whole shrine? I would never want that." Kagome looked up at the shrine fondly. "Besides, this place is hundreds of years old, it's got history."

He shrugged. "Who cares about the past anyway? It's all a bunch of wars, battles, epidemics. I don't see a point in preserving it."

"History is more than just wars and battles." Kagome said taking on a wise tone of voice. "Did you ever hear about the Shikon jewel that could grant any wish? Or how demons became a rare species? Or even about the priestesses who protected their villages by using their spiritual powers and all sorts of …" Kagome caught the bored look on Inuyasha's face and was reminded of her own expression as she was forced to listen to her Grandpa go on and on about the history of the shrine.

"Okay sorry… I'm rambling. I guess Grandpa's just rubbed off on me." Kagome then grinned excitedly. "Hey, are you sure you don't want to come up and stay for dinner? You could meet him, and I'm sure he'd love to meet an actual demon."

"Half-demon actually," Inuyasha corrected her. "And no thanks, I think I'll go home and crash. It's been a long day. He turned to leave but Kagome's voice stopped him.

"I…I never got a chance to thank you." She said as she looked down at her feet, suddenly feeling shy. After that almost-kiss in his apartment, things had changed. She couldn't tell what exactly, but suddenly just talking to Inuyasha made her heart beat faster.

Inuyasha turned and gave her a quizzical look. "For what?"

She turned her warm eyes up to look at him and smiled. "For saving me, for caring about me… thank you. You're a good friend Inuyasha." She leaned towards him and before he could object or she could change her mind, she gave him a hug. Inuyasha looked down at the top of her head. He had been taken off guard but then he slowly brought his arms around her too and held her close.

"Feh, who said I wanted to be your friend?" he asked with a smirk. Kagome pulled back a bit to look up at him and he saw her smiling face.

"Oh Inuyasha, just accept the fact that you've grown fond of me."

"Keep dreaming kid." Inuyasha said and ruffled her hair for good measure, ignoring Kagome's half glare as he did so.

"I'm not a kid!" she called out as he climbed into his car. He started the engine and rolled down his window to face her.

"So…I'll see you tomorrow?"

Kagome grinned. "Yeah, tomorrow." He gave a quick nod and sped off, and Kagome waited until she saw his car disappear around the corner to start her hike up the shrine steps.

He might be a pathetic excuse for a man, but Mike Claire made the right call.

* * *

AN: Okay, everyone's probably like huh? What just happened there? I know there's a lot of confusing parts right now, but it will all be explained in the next chapter. So how did everyone like it? I couldn't find a good place to end, but I chose to end it here because I've got some other stuff planned for next time plus now you'll all be left wondering *insert villainous laughter here* Oh and now Kikyo finally comes into the picture! Who was expecting that huh? I didn't even expect it… I didn't plan on having her in there but half the time I don't know what I'm writing till I'm done. Hopefully you guys like how I made her character, I'm going to try and aim for a less out of character Kikyo but I honestly have never liked her so she might be a little bitchier in my story than she was in the show. Anyway, leave a review please and let me know what you think!


	13. Meeting the Family

A/N: Sorry for taking FORVER to update! I had this chapter more than halfway done (I actually worked on this during my final exams) and I was ready to write out the last scene but then the winter break came and then unexpectedly I wasn't able to access my laptop which let me tell you, was hell. So it got put on hold. It's a cloud with a silver lining though because this one's really long and I also planned out some future chapters (which I never do and is probably the reason I'm such a lousy writer) and got some more perspective of the direction this story is going in.

I would also like to thank everyone that left a review for the previous chapter. They are a pleasure to read. Oh and I think someone asked before if Inuyasha's a half-demon in this story or not. If anyone else was wondering, the answer is yes, he is. And Kouga's a full demon.

Oh and one more thing before you start the story! Kagome's actually eighteen turning nineteen. I made a mistake in one of the previous chapters and wrote that she was sixteen. Sorry for the confusion (if there was any) but she's eighteen. If I made any other silly mistakes like that let me know. I wouldn't be surprised if there were more. It's what happens when I take such long breaks between chapters.

Okay now you may proceed…Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen: Meeting the Family**

* * *

"Whatcha doing?"

Sango, who had been rummaging through her locker for her special purple pen jumped as she heard the voice and whipped around to see Kagome leaning over her curiously.

"Thanks Kagome, for sneaking up and nearly giving me a heart attack." she said sarcastically, placing a hand over her racing heart.

Kagome laughed and leaned against the locker beside Sango's. "I didn't sneak up! You were just so busy looking in your locker. What, did ya lose something?"

"I lost the stupid pen." Sango replied with a groan as she shut her locker.

"Not _the_ pen!" Kagome gasped with a look of horror and Sango nodded sullenly.

"Yeah that one…hey, wait a minute how'd you…" Sango glanced at Kagome, catching the grin on her face and the latter burst out laughing.

"You are such a horrible friend, you know that?" Sango huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "You should be helping me out but instead you're standing here making fun of me."

"I'm sorry but it's just too funny. What's so special about this pen of yours?" Kagome asked and the two girls began walking down the crowded hall. Next period was about to start and although they didn't have the same classes Kagome and Sango usually met up during the few spare minutes they had in between.

Sango sighed. "It's this pen I bought earlier in the semester. I had this big test which I didn't study for but when I wrote the test with it, I aced it. At first I didn't think much of the pen but then I used it on another test which surprise, surprise…I aced and so it became my lucky pen. Now I've got a test next period and I can't find it anywhere. I _need_ it Kagome. That and it's purple…purple's my favourite colour." She pouted as Kagome patted her back.

"There, there. You don't need a lucky pen to do well on a test." Kagome reassured.

"You don't understand," Sango said with a look of seriousness, "that thing's got powers."

Kagome laughed lightly. "Oh, Sango you make my day." Sango merely glared.

"And why are you so cheery all of a sudden?"

Kagome sighed contentedly. "I dunno, life's just good."

Sango rolled her eyes. "I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that you and Inuyasha finally made up." Then Sango got a sly look on her face. "Or should I say made out?"

Kagome's eyes widened and she turned to Sango quickly. "Shh! Sango you can't tell anyone!" she looked around worriedly.

"And I never said we made out, I said we _almost_ kissed." Kagome whispered the last word, as if she was scared her mother would pop out from behind the two girls at the drinking fountain.

Sango shrugged "Same difference." She said dismissively and continued walking in the direction of her biology class leaving Kagome no choice but to rush after her.

"I still don't get how that almost kiss, almost happened." Sango continued when Kagome caught up. "I know you explained about everything that went down with that douche bag- whose name will never be mentioned- but how did that get you and Inuyasha to be so, so… chummy?"

Kagome hugged her books to her chest. She hadn't really thought about that. Somehow with all that they went through yesterday it almost seemed like they had bonded. It had taken Kagome to practically get molested but after that things between Inuyasha and her had just turned out for the better. She only hoped that they'd stay that way.

"I don't really know myself, Sango. I guess when I saw that he was there for me, I wasn't so mad anymore. He acts like a total jerk but I know now that he isn't really one… no matter how hard he tries to come off that way." Kagome's face heated up suddenly as she remembered how close he'd come to kissing her.

"And I know this is going to sound weird, but I…I don't think I would have pulled away if he had kissed me." Kagome blushed even deeper. It had just been a crazy thought flitting across her mind and suddenly she'd just blurted it out.

Sango, who had stopped in her tracks at Kagome's words, grabbed her friend by the shoulders and looked at her with alarm.

"_You_ like him?" she cried, completely astonished.

Kagome shook her head vigorously. "No, no, no! Not like that at all…" At her friend's questioning look she continued. "I don't know Sango. It's just, I think something came over the both of us at that moment and I-I don't think I could have pulled away even if I wanted to... but I think it's safe to say now that we've put the past behind us and we're just friends."

"And you're sure you don't like him?" Sango persisted.

"If I suddenly wake up one day and am somehow magically in love with Inuyasha…I`ll let you know." Kagome said wryly. "But as for now, no I don't like him."

Sango stared at her for a bit longer, trying to read her best friends face. After a few seconds she let go of Kagome, shrugged and continued walking.

"You had me worried for a minute there Kagome."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you were ready to clobber the guy yesterday morning and now you say you'd let him kiss you? That should worry you. Besides, it's Inuyasha we're talking about here. How well do you really know the guy?" Sango gave her a pointed look. "He's older than us too…"

Kagome scoffed. "You're dating his friend Sango! Miroku's probably just as old as Inuyasha if not older."

"Huh," Sango said cocking her head to the side. "I guess he is."

It was Kagome's turn to roll her eyes. Sometimes, she wondered about Sango…

"How's he feeling by the way?" Kagome asked, genuinely concerned. She'd forgotten the reason she and Inuyasha had to go to the shoot together was because Miroku fell suddenly ill. The warning bell rang, and the mob of girls around them that still hadn't made it to class rushed to and fro.

"He's still a bit sick I guess, but I called this morning and he seemed better."

"Well that's good to hear. I'll get my mom to make some of that awesome chicken soup she whips up when I get a nasty cold and you can give it to him when you go over. That stuff works like a charm."

Sango nodded then reached out and pulled Kagome out of the way before she got run over by a taller girl who was all but sprinting down the hall. They had made it to Sango's biology class and Sango stopped outside the door and rummaged through her back pack.

"Thanks." Kagome breathed. You'd think in an all-girls school everyone would walk politely in the halls, sipping on tea and eating crumpets but Kagome had her fair share of bumps and bruises from getting shoved in the busy halls when students weren't watching where they were going and it was safe to say that not all the girls had an appreciation for tea.

"Aha! I found it." Sango beamed.

"Found what?" Kagome asked curiously and Sango held out her hand to show Kagome a boomerang shaped eraser.

"Only my super-duper lucky eraser."

Kagome's eyebrow twitched. "You're kidding right?" Sango just grinned deviously.

"One must always have a backup lucky charm."

Kagome raised an eyebrow.

"Wish me luck!" Sango called over her shoulder and disappeared into the classroom.

"That would be the eraser's job." Kagome snorted and made to leave but Sango poked her head out of the classroom doors before she had a chance.

"I heard that Kag." She said giving her a playful glare. "Oh, and you still need a ride to the agency right?"

Kagome nodded. "Yeah, I'll meet you afterschool at your locker. But make sure you get there on time, I can't be late or Inuyasha will have my head."

"And possibly make out with it…" Sango snickered.

"Sango!" Kagome cried, turning crimson. Sango just ducked back into her classroom before Kagome could give her a piece of her mind, laughing the whole way.

Kagome stalked down the now empty hall towards her own classroom only to hear the late bell ring. She groaned, how did Sango always manage to make her late to class? Then something occurred to her. Being late meant detention…and detention meant being late to her appointment with Inuyasha. How wonderful, life didn't seem so great all of a sudden.

* * *

"Ah-choo!"

"Ugh, keep those germs to yourself will you." Inuyasha said scooting away on the couch he was perched on.

Miroku sniffed then blew his nose loudly into a tissue, crumpling it up and throwing it at his friend.

"Oh stop being sucha scardey-cat…erm…dog... I thought demons didn't get sick easily."

"Half-demon," Inuyasha corrected automatically then shook his head. "Yeah we don't but I still don't want Miroku germs all over my face."

Miroku just turned away huffily and pulled the quilt around him tighter. "You're no fun, I wish Sango was here."

"Well suck it up princess, I've gotta talk to you."

"And here I was thinking you enjoyed my company." Miroku said sarcastically. Inuyasha cleared his throat in irritation.

"Alright, alright, I'm listening." Miroku placated.

"First off, did Sango fill you in about what happened yesterday?" Inuyasha asked.

Miroku frowned in thought. "No. Since she left my place yesterday she only called in the morning to make sure I was alright but she didn't mention anything important. Why, what happened?"

"It's a long story so I'll just cut to the important part. I took Kagome to Mike's house," he began but Miroku cut him off.

"Aw man, please tell me it's not about another fight between you two." Miroku coughed into his shirt sleeve then continued. "I thought I told you to apologize to her."

"I did!" Inuyasha protested. "And she wouldn't listen. Besides we didn't fight…well, actually we did at first but that's not the point so stop interrupting." He scowled then started again.

"We get to Mike's house, we're introduced…the man was all over her in an instant and I was too stupid to realize something could go wrong."

"But something did go wrong?" Miroku wondered out loud then made a show of zipping his lips, locking them and throwing away the key at Inuyasha's deadpan stare.

"Anyway, he led her off like usual to his personal studio and I don't know much of what happened next with them but suddenly I heard Kagome's scream and I ran into the studio. I saw him forcing himself on her and I don't know what came over me but… I kinda punched his lights out."

He paused and looked up to see Miroku's reaction. Miroku who was still being faithful to his "zipped lips" just nodded intently for him to go on.

Inuyasha scratched his head in embarrassment and continued. "I also kinda shouted Kagome's name and that asshole figured out she was just posing as Kikyo."

"Inuyasha, you idiot!" Miroku burst out. "He'll tell the whole world now just to get revenge!"

Inuyasha folded his arms. "I thought you were supposed to stay quiet."

Miroku just grabbed another tissue and sneezed into it. "I know but you're still an idiot! Kikyo could lose her job, you could lose your job, I could lose my job…oh, never mind I work in another department but that's not the point!"

"Shut up Miroku and just lemme finish." Inuyasha growled.

Miroku leaned back into his cushions and narrowed his eyes. "Fine, it's not like my ass is on the line. Please, continue."

Inuyasha just rolled his eyes. "He won't tell anyone, Miroku. I took Kagome back to my apartment and then he called…and, and why are you looking at me like that?"

"You took Kagome back to _your_ apartment?" Miroku cried bolting upright. "I know she looks like she could be Kikyo's twin but damn, she's just a school girl. What were you thinking? What about Kikyo? Sango's going to kill you."

"Nn-No! " Inuyasha cried, nearly falling over. "Keh, stupid it was nothing like that! She just needed to fix herself up before she went home. We didn't do anything."

Miroku just kept staring at him.

Inuyasha groaned. "For the love of- Kikyo was there alright? _Nothing_ happened between Kagome and me." _Besides the fact that I nearly kissed her the moment Kikyo left…._

Inuyasha made a face. He wouldn't be mentioning that to his lecherous friend anytime soon. He'd never hear the end of it. Besides it wasn't that important…he'd just been lacking sleep or something. It was just a spur of the moment thing, and as far as he was concerned it wasn't going to happen again.

Miroku sat back, completely baffled. "Whoa, what was Kikyo doing there?"

"Miroku, I'm not here to feed you gossip or discuss relationship problems with you. This is important…"

"Okay, okay I'm sorry. I promise…no more side tracking. Now where were we? You said Mike called you so what exactly did he say?"

"I thought he was going to make some demands…try to get revenge like you said before but instead he wanted to make a deal."

"A deal?" Miroku questioned, a frown marring his brow.

"Yeah, it turns out the man is not only a pervert but a coward as well. He figured that because it was Kagome he assaulted and not Kikyo, if she did decide to go to the police, he'd have no way to stop her. With Kikyo he could threaten her career but since Kagome's not a real model she wouldn't be losing anything."

"I see," Miroku murmured. "If Kagome really wanted, she could run to the police right now and he wouldn't be able to do a thing."

"Exactly." Inuyasha answered, smirk in place. "So he said that as long as we stayed quiet about what he did then he'd keep our secret too. It's really win-win for us since Kagome wasn't really planning on taking action anyway but that bastard was really shitting it. I could hear it in his voice."

Miroku grinned. "Well that's a great stroke of luck! Kikyo's career is still safe, Kagome can come back and work for us and because we have something against Mike, there's no way we'll be taken out of the fashion show."

Inuyasha sighed and got up to pace the room. "About that….Miroku, do you think it's a good idea to keep going with this?"

"If you mean your so-called ingenious plan then yeah, sure. I mean I had my doubts at first but Kagome's really starting to pick up the hang of the modelling thing and we've already spent so much time and money on the preparation. I don't think we can afford to call it off just now."

Inuyasha bit the inside of his cheek and turned to face Miroku. "Yeah, but what about Kagome? I feel like we're exploiting her. She's just a kid and what Mike did to her wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for us…"

He lowered his eyes; yeah he was definitely still beating himself up about it. Yesterday after he'd gotten off the phone with Mike and explained the situation to Kagome she was actually happy. She said it was a great thing and that meant she could come back and finish her job and Inuyasha had begrudgingly agreed. There was no logical reason to deny her help even if he wanted to but who knew what could happen next? The people in the fashion industry would eat her alive, she was just too innocent. Since Mike was producing the fashion show anyway, she'd definitely be seeing more of him and Inuyasha did not want that asshole anywhere near her. Still, it would be a stupid move to opt out of the show. Inuyasha would just have to be much more careful next time.

Miroku looked up at Inuyasha with a slight frown. "Inuyasha, we're not exploiting her. In fact, she's getting the longer end of the stick here. We're getting her into the school of her dreams and paying her fees. I'd say that's a fair deal. And don't forget that she's only got about another week to work and she's free to go."

"I know, but she's got a lot on her plate already. She goes to school and did you know she gives free dance lessons to kids who can't afford them?" he looked at Miroku with the hint of a smile and then he made a face.

"Uh, wait forget that last part I don't think I was supposed to tell you."

Miroku looked at the hanyou with amusement. Since when did Inuyasha worry about anyone else but himself? Something was going on here…

"Inuyasha, if I didn't know better I'd say you were actually concerned about Kagome." He winked suggestively. "She is pretty cute huh?"

Inuyasha's face went red immediately and he turned away. "Stop spouting rubbish. After what she went through I think we should spare her from other possible perverts. You're one of them." He scowled. "And no, she's not cute you paedophile, she's underage."

Inuyasha seemed to forget at the moment that Miroku was dating Sango, who was a schoolgirl herself still.

Miroku lifted his hands up in a placating gesture but his grin was still in place. Making Inuyasha squirm had been a hobby of his since college. "You're sure getting testy about this subject my friend. You don't happen to be developing feelings for her?"

Inuyasha snapped a glare on him. "I don't think so. She's like the annoying little sister I never wanted. I do not have feelings for her in _any_ way."

"Hm, sister you say?" Miroku posed as if he was deep in thought. "You never told me you were into incest." At Inuyasha's disgruntled appearance he erupted into a fit of laughter that just as quickly turned into a coughing fit. It was cut short however when a cushion impacted with his face.

"Miroku, you'll shut up if you know what's good for you." Inuyasha threatened half-heartedly.

Miroku wiped away a tear, getting up and stretching. "Don't worry you little love-sick puppy you, I'll keep your secret safe."

Inuyasha looked heavenward. "Why the hell am I still his friend?"

Miroku looked at him curiously. "Hey aren't you supposed to be at work?"

"Is that my hint to get going?" Inuyasha countered in a flat tone.

Miroku slapped him on the back. "You bet. Now off you go, if you manage to meet Sango tell her I've got a doctor's appointment later today so she doesn't have to come and check up on me."

Inuyasha finished shrugging into his jacket and opened the door to Miroku's flat to let himself out. "Hey, I ain't your messenger, just give her a call."

"She's got school you goof and besides, if I call her I might end up mentioning a certain agent who's got some incestuous feelings for her best friend." Miroku waggled his eyebrows mischievously.

The slamming of the door was his response.

* * *

"You're late." Inuyasha remarked as Kagome skidded into his office. Kagome who'd had to sit through the longest lecture of her life given to her by the most irritating teacher ever known to grace the halls of her highschool was already at her boiling point.

She plopped down into one of the cushiony chairs in front of Inuyasha's desk and wiped away the sweat on her brow. She had literally sprinted all the way up to Inuyasha's office because the elevator was taking forever.

"I had detention." She groaned and threw her head back. "And Mrs. Nakamura has a fondness for going on about how ungrateful today's youth can be. That woman is infuriating…she speaks in monotone you know, so its plain torture just to have to listen to her. On top of that I had to erase all the doodling on the desks. Do you know how many people get bored during her class?"

Inuyasha just stared at her blankly and she continued her rant, not phased in the least.

"That means they take it all out on their desks and I was there forever just scrubbing away, look."

She shoved both her palms in front of his face as if she was waiting for him to inspect them for evidence. They were both covered in pencil smudges. Inuyasha tactfully steered her hands away.

"Are you done?" he asked exasperatedly. Kagome blinked then seemed to remember herself.

"Uh yeah…I'm done."

"Good, cause we've got a lot to work on today." He scowled as he noticed Kagome peering at him. "What?" he snapped.

Kagome pulled back. "Nothing…just, you seem real cranky. I could have sworn you were nicer yesterday."

"I don't like to be kept waiting." He said in way of explanation, not lessening his scowl.

"Sheesh, you're not a people person are you?"

Inuyasha opened his mouth to respond but Kagome held up her hand. "Wait, don't answer that. I already know how much of a pain you can be." She cracked a smile at Inuyasha's expense. "So what are we doing today?"

"Uh first, where's Sango?"

Kagome furrowed her brow. "She's downstairs in the lobby probably getting something to eat. Why do you need her?"

"Nothing, Miroku just wanted me to give her a message. But forget that, I've got something to show you."

Inuyasha passed her a file over the desk and Kagome looked at it in confusion.

"What is it?"

"Just open it."

She did so and found a picture of a stunning girl clad in a striking red dress posing for the camera. She turned to the next picture of the same girl in a different pose. There was a whole stack of them.

"Make sure not to get pencil smudges on them."

"That's ME?" she asked. Kagome was so dumbfounded she could hardly believe it was her in the photos. She looked so unlike her normal self. She cracked a smile. Makeup sure could do wonders.

"Yeah." Inuyasha smirked. "That's all you. Turned out pretty good don't you think? I can hardly tell the difference between you and Kikyo when I look at these."

Kagome kept staring at the photos, going from one to the next. "They're from the photo shoot with Mike…how did you get them?" she asked, finally looking away from the pictures.

"He sent them today. I guess he'd rather be on our good side at the moment."

"Okay but wow I still can't believe that's me. I look…I look..."

"Great." Inuyasha supplied. Kagome's eyed widened at his obvious compliment.

"But you're still nowhere near Kikyo and your poses need some work." He put in as he reached over to take the file back and before Kagome could open her mouth to retort he continued, "Which is why I'm handing you over to another stylist. She'll experiment some looks on you we can use to further update the portfolio. Oh and Kikyo has a go-see to go to because there's a magazine cover she's supposed to be on and they're shooting tomorrow. We've gotta get you prepared."

Inuyasha got up and moved around his desk. "Come on, I'll take you to her."

"Okay, but can I get something to eat first? All that erasing made me hungry."

Inuyasha smirked. "You know, now that you're modelling you'll have to watch your weight."

Kagome looked appalled. "Are you calling me fat?"

"Ugh, don't worry about gaining weight here, it's next to impossible."

Inuyasha and Kagome both turned to the door to see Sango standing there with a pout.

"The stupid cafeteria is filled with low fat, low-calorie stuff." She continued. "What the heck is the point of ten different salads on the menu? There's nothing to eat except for greens. I asked if they served any type of burgers and guess what? They laughed at me."

"It's because the girls would go nuts if there was any type of normal food around. They stopped serving proper food in the cafeteria ages ago. Now all the staff here go out to eat." Inuyasha explained with a shrug.

"You could always try the vending machines on the first floor?" Kagome suggested.

Sango shook her head, her long ponytail swaying back and forth. "Nah, I'll see you later Kagome I think I'll eat at Miroku's." she turned to leave but Inuyasha's voice stopped her.

"Wait, Sango…Miroku said he'd be at the doctor's."

Sango turned with a smile on her face. "Really?"

Inuyasha nodded.

"Awww that block head actually listened to me. Okay thanks guys I'm going to go home then. Kagome when do you want me to pick you up?"

"If it's okay Sango, I'll drop her home." Inuyasha said and then raised a brow at the knowing look Sango got on her face. "I mean…I don't mind and it's sort of on my way."

"Yeah, sure that's fine!" Sango gushed. "Ahaha, you guys have fun now…um don't do anything I wouldn't do." With a final conspirational wink in Kagome's direction Sango dashed out of the office.

Inuyasha looked over at Kagome who looked as if she wanted the ground to open up and swallow her whole.

"What's with her?" He asked.

Kagome laughed nervously and waved her hands. "Nothing, nothing, she just gets a little crazy when she hasn't been fed."

* * *

Kagome did a mini-twirl in front of Inuyasha and looked at him expectantly.

"Soo, how do I look?"

Inuyasha cocked his head to the side as his amber eyes lazily studied her. "Eh…too vintage. But I guess it's what's in right now." He shrugged a shoulder. "I'll never get fashion."

"Yet you work for a super-model."

Inuyasha grunted.

Kagome put her hands on her hips and looked down at her outfit. It was pale blue-gray tulle gown with a sleeveless bodice and jewelled lace trim. Kagome thought it actually looked pretty good. The stylist had also made her put on a blonde wig which she had then styled into an up do. Her makeup was a little drastic with the powder blue eye shadow and silver lipstick but it did add to the overall look.

"Hey I think it looks real pretty." Kagome giggled. "This feels like playing dress-up. I remember having a trunk full of costumes."

"Dress up?" Inuyasha asked in a bored tone as he picked at his claws.

Kagome turned to him with an eager look on her face. "You know, dress-up? Where you would go through your mum or dad's closet and wear the funniest outfits you could find. Or you'd dress up as a fire fighter or a ballerina or a cowboy just because you wanted to?"

Inuyasha shook his head. "Nope, can't say I've ever done any of those things."

Kagome gasped. "You've never played dress-up? At all? Ever?"

Inuyasha gave her a look. "If playing dress-up means going through my parents clothes and wearing ridiculous outfits then I'm glad I spared myself."

Kagome's brow puckered and she waved a hand dismissively. "Oh stop acting all high and mighty, all the normal kids did it."

"But you said you did it." Inuyasha said looking at her with mock confusion.

"Yeah of course I did." Kagome paused then glared at him. "Hey wait a minute, are you implying that I'm not normal?"

Inuyasha had the nerve to look innocent. "Who me? Nah, I'd never dream of it."

Kagome scrunched up her nose and tried to appear angry. "You know, I shouldn't have forgiven you yesterday. You're still a jerk."

Inuyasha merely chuckled and went back to studying his claws.

Kagome ignored him and walked over to the full length mirror and looked at herself.

"So how come we're trying on all these different looks now?"

After Sango had left, Inuyasha had handed her over to Francoise again who continued to tutor her on posing and walking down the catwalk. It was all starting to seem a bit easier but Kagome knew that she still had a lot to learn to match Kikyo. Francoise kept saying she had to act more natural and not to be so stiff but it was really hard to know just where to put her hands or how to angle her face when the camera kept flashing.

Kagome turned away from her reflection. "I mean I liked all of them but what's the point Inuyasha?"

Her stylist, an older woman named Aya strolled over to her and made her stand still while she made some adjustments to the dress.

"It's because when you go to the go see's you have to present and updated portfolio of yourself with the new styles. Styles change every day, you can't be left behind dear." Aya said and after hovering over Kagome for a few more minutes she stepped back to survey her handiwork.

"What's a go-see?" Kagome asked as she looked over her shoulder to where Inuyasha was lounging on a chair. "Inuyasha mentioned it before too."

"It's an opportunity for model's to get interviews with magazine editors, art directors, people who make TV commercials and so on. You show them your portfolio and they judge you by your looks. If you're good enough they'll hire you." Aya explained.

On seeing Kagome's worried face at the mention of an interview Inuyasha jumped in.

"Kikyo's barely interviewed anymore since she's more of a super model than an upcoming new face so you should be fine. We've already got it in the bag, this is merely a formality. Everyone wants Kikyo's face on a magazine these days so it's just a matter of showing up."

Kagome still didn't look convinced. "So I'll be on a magazine? And I'm going tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Kagome look, don't be scared I'll go with you again." Inuyasha strolled over and put a hand on her shoulder, guiding her away from the mirror. Kagome blushed lightly and looked up at him; he hadn't seemed to notice how fast her heart was beating at the smallest bit of contact. Of course, the excessive heart beating had nothing to do with him really, she was just nervous about tomorrow…or something.

Kagome mentally groaned. Who was she really kidding? It seemed that now she was getting antsy just being in the same room with him. This couldn't possibly be because he'd almost kissed her right?

It was hard to believe that it had actually happened. The events of the previous day seemed so dream like. She scolded herself for even dwelling on the topic. Maybe he hadn't even been about to kiss her, maybe she had an eyelash on her cheek or something trivial like that and he has just been leaning over to get rid of it. She was just over analyzing the situation once again, Kagome thought, and worrying herself in the process.

Inuyasha, oblivious to Kagome's befuddled thoughts steered her to the corner of the room where they had set up an impromptu background for a photo shoot of the different looks Aya had dressed her up in. They were on the fifth one.

"Now smile for the camera," Inuyasha said and motioned for the cameraman to snap the picture. He winced. "Uh, wait that's too much smiling. Tone it down a bit."

Kagome stuck her tongue out at him and he almost cracked a smile. Working with her was actually not as boring as working with the other models. They were so uptight and full of themselves, even the new ones. Kagome was a breath of fresh air with her curiosity and friendly nature. She had already managed to make friends with all the stylists, makeup artists, and camera crew she'd had to work with thus far and it had only been her first week at the agency.

Kagome continued to do some poses which the photographer directed and Inuyasha turned away. They had a lot of work ahead of them to prepare for tomorrow's go see but that wasn't what preoccupied his mind. Kikyo hadn't returned his calls and he was getting a little worried. Yesterday's little spat was nothing compared to the uglier more painful fights they had in the past but this time felt different. Kikyo hadn't been acting like herself lately.

'_Maybe it's just you.'_ The voice in his head said. _'You're the one that's changing. Kikyo's got nothing to do with it.'_

He bit his lip. That couldn't be…he was just dwelling on it too much. He flipped his cell phone open and dialled Kikyo's number. He heard the dial tone drone on and on. She wasn't picking up again.

"Dammit." He muttered and put the phone away. Now he was full blown worried. After he dropped Kagome home he'd call Kikyo's private nurses and see if they could tell him where she was.

"Okay, we're done here. Great job Kagome." The camera man said to the girl and Inuyasha turned to see Kagome thank the guy then turn to him with a smile.

"I can go home now right?" she asked Inuyasha but her smile faltered as she saw the anxious look on his face. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"What? Oh, no it's nothing. Go on and change then I'll take you home."

"Okay," Kagome said giving him one last look then wandering off to the change rooms.

Inuyasha sighed and plopped down into one of the chairs in the room. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and quickly pulled it out. It was a text message…from Kikyo.

'_Sry for not picking up. Meet u at ur place later.'_ Inuyasha let out a breath. Well, at least she was still talking to him.

Kagome came out of the change room, the wig and makeup gone and clad in her normal school clothes.

Inuyasha stood up. "You done?" he asked and she nodded. He turned to leave but noticed she was still waiting there.

"What's wrong?"

"Inuyasha… my mom…she kind of wants to talk to you." Even as she said it Kagome could feel her face heat up. "So uh, could you stay for a bit when you drop me home?"

Inuyasha's ears twitched atop his head as he registered what she said. "Me? What does she want to talk to _me_ about?"

If Kagome didn't find the whole thing so embarrassing she'd laugh at how nervous Inuyasha sounded.

She played with her bangs out of habit. "Um, I don't exactly know, but after I told her about what happened yesterday she said that she wanted to speak to you and..and that it had to be in person."

Inuyasha pinched the bridge of his nose and he backed up. "Oh no. No, no, no,"

Kagome looked at him with concern. "What?"

Inuyasha seemed to be speaking more to himself than her. "Oh shit. I am _so_ dead. Killed young by a teenager's angry mother is not how I planned to go out." He looked around desperately as if he was looking for an exit sign and then his amber eyes landed on her accusingly. "You could have lied and told her I was too busy or- or something!"

"Or something?" Kagome folded her hands across his chest and narrowed her eyes at him "Hey if I recall, you're the one that kept pushing me to tell her."

"I did not!" Inuyasha yelled.

"You said, 'You _have_ to let your mother know Kagome.'" Kagome said faking Inuyasha's deeper voice.

"Keh, I do not sound like that." Inuyasha growled crossing his arms too and matching her glare.

"Well you did say it so there is no way you can just push the blame on me mister." Kagome countered and accentuated her point by poking him on the chest.

Inuyasha's glare faltered as he realized that he wasn't getting out of this one. "Okay well, what are we going to do?"

Kagome sighed and took pity on him. "Look, my mom's a real nice lady."

"Right."

Kagome ignored him. "She never gets mad at anyone. She probably just wants to meet you and get to know more about what I do here. When I told her about yesterday she didn't seem angry, just worried about me." She patted Inuyasha on the arm. "Don't worry you'll be fine."

"Really?" Inuyasha looked almost hopeful.

Kagome laughed. "Pftt no, my mom's a black-belt in karate. You're going to get your butt kicked."

Inuyasha looked down at her smaller form with a brooding face.

"Ha, ha."

* * *

"Ma, Gramps, Souta I'm home!"

Souta, who'd been lounging in front of the television dropped the remote control and turned to see his sister pulling off her shoes as she got inside the Higurashi household.

"Hey sis," Souta said waving from his place. "You're home awfully late."

Kagome's grandfather who had been dusting off his collection of authentic medieval sake jugs, turned to his granddaughter with a pout. "Your mother wouldn't let us start dinner until you got home."

"Aw I'm sorry you guys, I left the agency as soon as I could." Kagome walked into the living room and looked around. "Where's mom, I need to talk to her."

"Right here dear," Mrs. Higurashi called as she emerged from the kitchen she regarded Kagome with a confused look. "Where's Inuyasha? I thought you'd bring him along."

Kagome for her part looked confused. "Yeah I did, he's right…." She trailed off as she looked over her shoulder to see Inuyasha wasn't right behind her like she'd thought. Kagome put her hand on her hips. "Inuyasha!" she hollered so her voice would carry through the open front door. "Get in here now!"

There was no answer. Kagome's family all exchanged glances. Kagome huffed and stormed back outside. She found Inuyasha leaning against the side of the house, hands stuffed in his pockets and a scowl on his face.

"What are you doing?" she asked, hands finding their way back to her hips.

Inuyasha looked down at the younger girl, her annoyance completely apparent.

"You didn't say anything about coming in." was his response.

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Ok, my mom's not really a black belt. She wouldn't hurt a fly. Happy? Now come on."

Inuyasha didn't look too convinced.

Kagome laughed. "You're actually scared?"

"Dream on." Inuyasha folded his arms over his chest and his eyes hardened but his rapidly twitching ears gave him away.

A gust of icy wind blew and Kagome shivered and rubbed her arms.

"It's freezing Inuyasha, will you please come in?" Kagome peered up at Inuyasha pleadingly. She could see his amber eyes soften a bit but the scowl on his face got bigger.

He really would've preferred to stay outside where it was safe from a potentially over-protective mama bear (he'd had to deal with some both in his current line of work and when he used to work at the firm) and the cold hardly affected him but he knew with Kagome's stubborn nature she wouldn't leave him until he gave in, never mind her fingers turning to ice cubes.

"Fine," he grumbled turning towards the door and Kagome's face pinched from the cold turned into a warm, pleased smile. "But if your mother comes at me with a knife or something I'm outta here."

Kagome bumped her shoulder to his playfully. "Now you're just going overboard."

She closed the door behind them and walked with Inuyasha into the hallway. "Mom, look who's here."

Kagome watched as her mother, who was in the middle of scolding Souta to turn off the TV and set the table turned to face them causing Inuyasha to become suddenly pale.

"So you're Inuyasha." Mrs. Higurashi remarked as she took a step towards him. Inuyasha just stared back. Kagome followed Inuyasha's gaze to her mother's hand and realized why he suddenly looked like he'd seen a ghost. She almost laughed.

Inuyasha though was saying his prayers. Dear lord, the mother was holding a knife.

* * *

A/N: I wouldn't blame if she decided to make some Inuyasha stew. He's just so yummy…in that fictional character way of course. Although, I'd prefer him more as a desert. *cheesy wink* Jokes aside, how was it? I was planning to add more but it sounded like too much for one chapter. Reviews would be wonderful as they make me smile and I don't have much reason for that these days. Blah, not going to bore you with my life...but my break's almost over and school's about to start which means less time to write. I'll get started on the next one as soon as I can though! Promise.


	14. Need

A/N: This one's longer than the usual so I hope it makes up for the long wait. Thank you to everyone who favourited/reviewed the story. It's an honour to have anyone at all even read this thing :)

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen: Need**

* * *

It wasn't that Inuyasha had a crummy memory, it was the fact that he had repressed most of his childhood so that he couldn't, for the life of him remember how long it had been since he had eaten a home cooked meal that was, well…edible. Actually more than edible, if the fact that he couldn't stop scarfing down the dinner Mrs. Higurashi had prepared was any indication.

Table manners be damned. This stuff was good.

"Inuyasha…" Kagome warned. "Be careful, you'll choke and I don't know if any of us here know how to do the Heimlich properly."

He ignored her but she continued to watch him in fascination as did her mother, Souta and Grandpa. It was sort of funny how only moments ago Inuyasha was ready to bolt out of their house with the assumption that Mrs. Higurashi was really out to get him. He had been fairly surprised however to find that Kagome's mother hadn't wanted to cause him any bodily harm but instead to thank him profusely for saving her daughter in time and getting her safely home. Kagome hadn't exaggerated; Mrs. Higurashi was indeed a very nice lady.

After thanking him genuinely she'd even insisted that Inuyasha stay and have dinner with the rest of them. Inuyasha had no choice but to turn down the offer, after all he was supposed to be meeting up with Kikyo later but Mrs. Higurashi wouldn't take no for an answer and when she smiled warmly at Inuyasha, he couldn't help but remember his own mother and then…well, there was no way he could say no.

Inuyasha pushed his empty plate away and leaned back with a satisfied smile. It was only then that he realized everyone's eyes were fixated on him.

"What?" he asked defensively.

Kagome, Souta and the old man all turned back to their own neglected plates wordlessly.

Mrs. Higurashi let out a chuckle. "I've never seen someone enjoy my cooking so much."

Inuyasha's face reddened. "I..haven't had something this good in a while."

"How come?" Kagome's younger brother Souta piped up. "I thought agents were rich or something?"

Inuyasha glanced at Kagome. Apparently Souta shared more than looks with his older sister. He could have sworn Kagome thought along the same lines as her brother when she first met him on the subway.

He shrugged in response. "Eating junk food or eating out at even the fanciest of restaurants doesn't have the same feeling as a good homemade meal does." And he wasn't lying. There were many times that Inuyasha had come home after a rough day at work and the sight of another bland, frozen meal waiting for him in his fridge was just disheartening. He loved ramen, of course he did, but even Inuyasha got sick of the stuff when he had to go weeks on end just eating it to survive. He couldn't cook to save his life either. But even if he could, he doubted that he'd enjoy a meal as much as he'd just enjoyed Mrs. Higurashi's…there was just something about a mother's touch that made him pine for home.

Mrs. Higurashi flashed him that motherly smile again as she tucked a strand of her short cropped hair behind her ear. "That's exactly the reason why I keep telling Kagome that once she's off to college she better come home every once in a while to eat dinner with the family."

Inuyasha nodded silently, he had a faraway look in his eyes.

"What about your family Inuyasha? You've never mentioned them." Kagome asked as she finished off her own plate.

Inuyasha's eyes seemed to focus again as he realized he was being asked a question. His face got that hardened look and his eyebrows knitted together in a frown.

"I haven't seen my family for years." He replied distractedly, his eyes were averted and Kagome could tell he was uncomfortable, but she wanted to know more. She opened her mouth to satisfy her curiosity but Mrs. Higurashi didn't give her a chance.

"Kagome dear, help me clear the table will you?" Mrs. Higurashi stood up, gathering the plates and bowls as she glanced at her daughter meaningfully.

Maybe Kagome hadn't seen it…but she had noticed the look of sadness in the young man's eyes. He hid it well, but Mrs. Higurashi could see that there had been loss in his life. Just like she had lost her husband a long time ago, Inuyasha had lost someone too. And the gaping hole that was left behind after losing something or someone from your life was never really quite filled no matter how much time passed. Being forced to talk about it was just as bad as chipping away at the edges and making that hole bigger and bigger…. Mrs. Higurashi knew that well. That hole would only start filling up once Inuyasha stopped trying to pretend it wasn't there but it was up to him to decide when he was ready to start letting go and confiding in someone.

Kagome seemed to understand what her mother meant too and readily helped her clear the table. She hadn't meant to pry or be nosy but something was definitely bugging Inuyasha and she believed that talking about things and getting it out of your system was the best solution. Apparently her mother didn't seem to agree.

She knew what her mother was telling her with her eyes. _'Leave it alone, dear. He'll talk when he's ready.'_

Kagome mentally pouted. Knowing Inuyasha, he'd never be ready. Still…she'd try bringing the topic up some other time. There was just so much she didn't know about him and it made her all the more determined. She gathered the last pieces of cutlery and shuffled off to the kitchen with her mother.

"You know son," Kagome's grandfather said turning to the hanyou, "you're welcome to come have dinner with us again anytime."

Inuyasha looked uncomfortable… he didn't know what to say to that. Why were they all being so nice to him? He hated to admit it, but it wasn't normal. Not that he didn't get along with humans or that humans shunned him…but really, most people weren't too happy with half-demons. Even in this day and time it was an oddity. No one would be rude outwardly but there was still that underlying resentment he could sense in most people who didn't think it was proper for demons and humans to mingle too much. Inuyasha always believed that thousands of years could pass and the world could go through progress after progress and discrimination would still manage to exist. But here he was, sitting in a human home and being treated like a normal person. He shook himself back from his musings to find that Kagome's grandfather was still rambling on.

"You know back in feudal Japan, the more guests' people had in their homes, the more they were blessed by the Gods. Although demon tribes feasted with other demon tribes and humans with their own kind but that doesn't matter in _our_ home. You know boy, if you come around more maybe I could show you the ancient Noh mask and other relics that have been passed down the Higurashi family for generations!"

Inuyasha nodded politely, trying to seem interested but he'd honestly lost the old man at "back in feudal Japan". Souta who had run from the dinner table after finishing his meal was turning on the TV and setting up his game console.

"Inuyasha, Inuyasha! Come on, let's play some video games." He ran back over to Inuyasha and tugged at his sleeve, blinking up at him with the same big brown eyes Kagome had. "Sis _obviously_ wins at games like DDR but we can play some cool scary ones like Call of Duty!" he grinned eagerly at the hanyou. "C'mon what are you waiting for? You don't happen to be scared of zombies do you?"

"No I…"

"Nazis then?"

Inuyasha looked from Kagome's grandfather (who was still going on about the Higurashi Shrine) to Souta who was all but jumping up and down with excitement, and sweat dropped. How was he going to get out of this one?

Fortunately, at that moment Kagome and her mother came back into the room after having cleared the table.

"Oh you guys, give it a rest. Grandpa you can tell Inuyasha the history of the shrine some other time. You should rest; you only just got out of the hospital." Kagome then turned to Souta. "And you little man, you still have your homework to finish."

A groan of protest came from the two Higurashi males but she just rolled her eyes.

Inuyasha sent a relieved smile at Kagome. "Uh, yeah and I think it's about time I got home too." He had forgotten all about Kikyo's message and he knew she wouldn't appreciate him making her wait.

Standing up he thanked Kagome's mother for the great food and Mrs. Higurashi beamed with happiness.

"No Inuyasha, I should be thanking you for taking care of my Kagome and being such a gentleman." Mrs. Higurashi put an arm around her daughter. "I was quite worried about her yesterday but now that I've met you I know she'll be safe."

"I promise you I won't let anything happen to her again. You have my word." He said seriously and Kagome blushed at the sincerity in his voice. Luckily no one seemed to notice.

Mrs. Higurashi walked Inuyasha to the door and handed him a small bag. "Here, I packed some of the leftovers from today's meal for you but you are welcome back here anytime."

Inuyasha ducked his head, hiding his own embarrassment as he thanked the woman again. She reminded him of his own mother so much he realized with an ache. He looked up to say goodbye to Kagome but she was already racing back into the house.

Mrs. Higurashi shrugged. "She probably got a phone call from a friend. You drive safely now Inuyasha. Goodnight!"

Inuyasha waved a final goodbye and walked across the shrine yard and down the steep steps. It was no wonder why Kagome was in such great shape, it was a whole workout…well, for a human anyway. He had much more strength and agility.

He'd just stepped onto the sidewalk at the bottom when he heard someone call his name from behind. He turned to see Kagome waving from the top of the shrine steps.

"Wait up Inuyasha!" she called as she jogged down. Grudgingly, he decided to wait but she _was_ very slow he noticed with annoyance.

…and there were a lot of steps.

At this rate he would be waiting all night and Kikyo would probably get upset and leave. Something that he knew he would be made to regret later.

"Whatever it is, just tell me tomorrow!" he hollered back impatiently, not really wanting to stick around and waste even more time but by then, she was almost halfway there.

"I'm coming, just hold on!" Kagome yelled, picking up speed as she tried to race down.

He grumbled a bit but stayed put. He watched her make her way down and as Kagome reached the last few steps she fumbled over them, her foot slipping in her hurry and suddenly she felt herself falling backwards.

She let out a surprised yelp and landed on the concrete with a jarring thud as the sudden pain from impact shot up through her body.

Winded and with an aching backside, she did not very much appreciate Inuyasha snickering at her expense.

"God, you're a klutz." He commented, as he controlled his laughter and walked over to her. Kagome felt a wave of déja-vu as his body loomed over hers. Why was it that she always managed to fall flat on her butt right in front of him?

"I shouldn't have even bothered with you." She muttered angrily and for some reason she suddenly felt tears sting her eyes. She thought that he was just going to stand there and watch her embarrass herself further so she tried to push herself up but instead his arms reached out and pulled her up effortlessly.

He didn't let go, but instead stared at her peculiarly for a bit before settling his lips into the usual smirk. "You know, you should be more careful." He leaned in and she automatically leaned back. "I promised your mother nothing would happen to you while I was around."

That got Kagome blushing again so she looked away from him. His hands were still wrapped around her upper arms and she felt that if he let go right then, she'd probably fall back down. And why was it that he always had to go and say something sort-of-nice just as she was getting mad at him, it was infuriating in itself.

Her eyes landed on the bag she'd been carrying that was strewn on the ground beside her feet and the reason for her anger came back. Kagome jerked herself away from his grip and bent to pick it up. She ignored Inuyasha's bewildered expression as she pushed it into his hands indignantly.

"Here. I can't believe I ran out here for you of all people." She glowered at him as she stepped backward, trying to put some more distance between them.

He looked at her questioningly but opened the bag to see the clothes he'd leant Kagome the other day folded neatly inside. Kagome didn't wait for a thank you. She spun on her heel, intent on heading for the shrine but Inuyasha was quicker. He reached out and grabbed her wrist, making her stop in her tracks.

She heard him let out a loud sigh behind her. "You're angry with me again? I thought we just became friends?"

"Well you deserve it. And you're not a good friend anyway." She replied snippily

He tried tugging her around so she'd face him but she just snatched her hand away and glared.

Inuyasha let his outstretched hand fall back to his side and shrugged, his face settling into an unreadable expression.

"Well, I guess that's okay. I didn't think we should stay just 'friends' for too long." he said, his voice suddenly thoughtful.

Kagome looked at him as if he'd grown another head.

"Dinner with the family went well, I mean you're mother seemed to love me." He paused, trying hard not to grin and leaving Kagome wondering where the heck he was going with this line of conversation.

"…next, we should start dating."

"Dating?" she echoed, going beet red.

What was up with Inuyasha? She was the one that tripped but had _he_ gone and hit his head when she wasn't looking?

Inuyasha looked serious for a moment as he thought about it. "Yeah I mean, we'll be spending a lot of time together… right?"

"W-what?" Kagome was practically burning up now, even in the cold night time chill. "Inuyasha we can't…I mean I don't know if I-I barely know you and-"

Inuyasha doubled over as he burst out laughing…again. At Kagome's perplexed frown, he straightened up.

"Relax Kagome, I was just kidding."

"Oh."

He was joking, of course. She hated how her voice almost sounded disappointed. Ha! As if she would even consider dating that moron…

"But um, thanks for the clothes back." Inuyasha continued. He tossed the bag back and forth between his hands restlessly. "I just don't know _how_ I could have slept at night not having my treasured sweatpants by my side."

Kagome folded her arms as she levelled him with a reproachful gaze. "You can stop with the sarcasm, it's not funny."

"Okay, okay." He amended, trying to keep a straight face. "No more jokes. And I guess I should apologize for laughing at you… but as long as you stop being Ms. Cranky-pants." He leaned closer to her and she could see the amused little smile on his face. Her brown eyes widened but she just stared back at him blankly. Why did the sight of his stupid face suddenly make her heart hammer away like an idiot in her chest? Oh God, if she didn't stop staring she'd make a fool of herself again. Inuyasha had obviously classified her as crazy already.

His head tilted and she was surprised how easily she could read him now. He was confused. Well heck, she was pretty confused too.

"You're not really hurt are you?" He reached out and touched her arm again, and his gentleness surprised her.

"No…I'm fine."

"You sure? You're all red and-"

"Oh, just stop talking and get in your car already!"

"Alright, will _you _stop pushing me!" he shrugged her hands off when she began shoving him down the street and climbed into his vehicle which he'd parked near the sidewalk.

Kagome watched him quietly as he settled himself in.

"A-and Inuyasha?"

"Yeah?" he strapped himself in and looked up through the rolled down window as Kagome's warm brown eyes met his own.

"Thanks for actually putting up with me and my family today and you know… not being your grouchy old self."

"Are you thanking me or insulting me?"

Kagome rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean."

Inuyasha looked past Kagome at the shrine with not one of his smirks, but the hint of a real smile playing on his lips. "They're good people, Kagome."

They said their goodbyes and Inuyasha pulled the door closed as he started up the car. Kagome didn't know how lucky she really was. When she thought of family she imagined a caring mother, a kind grandfather and a loving little brother…some people, Inuyasha thought briefly feeling sorry for himself, were not so blessed.

* * *

When Inuyasha opened the door to his apartment, he didn't see Kikyo waiting on his couch like last time. He cursed, thinking of how angry she must have been now that he'd stood her up and tried to work out a way he could make it up to her. When it came to winning Kikyo over it included a lot of money being spent (mostly his) and a lot of begging (on his part) for forgiveness. Without meaning to his mind drifted to Kagome and how she'd let him off the hook without a second thought. He'd been a jerk to her more than once and all he had to do was be his self around her to earn her forgiveness.

He sighed as he slid out of his coat, throwing it across the couch carelessly. Why was he even thinking about her? He'd caught himself doing that a lot lately. Actually, he even vaguely recalled a dream he had the other night about the young woman. It was weird, he didn't remember much but he remembered the feeling he woke up with. He'd been happy, the dream wrapped around his mind comfortingly- seemed as if it was right there- but the more he tried to remember, the more it escaped him.

Inuyasha walked over to the sink, getting himself a glass of water and downing it thirstily.

_Kagome…_

She wasn't too bad to be around, really. She didn't know it and he wasn't going to go to any effort of letting her know of course, but she'd really started to grow on him. He even enjoyed bickering with her.

It wasn't till he put down his empty glass on the counter that he realized he had a goofy smile on his face from recalling the way she'd turned red when he made that joke about them dating.

Come to think of it, she'd been acting pretty funny around him since he'd tried to kiss her. He wasn't completely oblivious, he'd noticed that much.

She was jumpier and had blushed at least every time he tried to get remotely close. And the rational part of him wanted to maybe clear things up with her and let her know that it had just been random-he hadn't really tried to come on to her- to save her from feeling awkward at least. But another part of him…the reckless part liked seeing her reactions and enjoyed knowing that he had at least some sort of effect on her.

He wandered back into his living room and surveyed the recent mess. He'd already done some damage since Kikyo had "cleaned" out his apartment. The garbage bags she stuffed the so-called junk into were lying open, their contents splayed out.

Well, it wasn't really his fault. Some of the stuff she'd classified as garbage was stuff he really needed. It honestly just created double the work since he would have to sort through everything piled in them but he was sort of touched that Kikyo actually went to the lengths to try and help out.

Now, he wouldn't be surprised if she never wanted to see him again. This was the first time she had actually spoken to him first after a fight (the first time in their rocky relationship) and he'd blown it. He was already dreading tomorrow.

That's why when he walked into his bedroom, tired and dejected, he was shocked to see her actually curled up under his covers.

He made his way over slowly. She was probably asleep, he figured and he knelt on the bed beside her as he stared at her peaceful face. The only light in the room came from the moonlit window and he looked at her silky hair fanned out around her, her lashes as they cast shadows on her cheek.

Even as she slept Kikyo looked absolutely beautiful. Hers was a strange beauty though…she looked surreal. Like she was some divine creature that didn't belong in their world.

With her eyes closed and that innocent, peaceful look she looked every bit like Kagome. But although Kagome may have shared the same features, in her it didn't come across the same way. Kagome's eyes were warm, carefree and held a childlike passion in them but Kikyo's were detached and sombre. He found something in them that he could relate to. And he'd fallen for her the moment their eyes had met that first day in his office...

The corners of his mouth turned upward in a smile at the memory and he bent over to press a light kiss to her forehead. As his lips grazed her skin, she shifted in her sleep and he froze, hoping he hadn't woken her up.

But his efforts were wasted and her eyes slowly fluttered open when she began to stir awake.

"Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha pulled back, giving her room as she tried to sit up.

"Hey." He greeted, as she finally sat upright and looked at him sleepily. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"Where were you? I waited up, but you didn't come."

Inuyasha looked away. "I'm sorry." He said flatly. "Something came up and-"

"You were with Kagome weren't you?"

Inuyasha's eyes met hers, startled. "Kikyo, it's not like that…" He wanted to hit himself. Shit…he could have just lied.

"But you were _with_ her. I can tell." Kikyo's voice was hollow.

He didn't deny it. "I'm working with her right now, Kikyo. It's not like I _can't_ spend time with her."

Kikyo turned away and laughed a bit ruefully. "I feel like I'm being replaced."

Inuyasha's amber eyes widened. "You're not being replaced." He said firmly. Suddenly, he was looking out at a woman who looked so vulnerable. In the dim light of his room, her normal façade had seemed to vanish. "You can never be replaced."

She turned back to Inuyasha, fresh tears in her eyes and before he knew it, he had reached out and pulled her to him. She was the only one he had in the world right now; he was supposed to be looking out for her. But he'd made her cry. And she hardly ever cried.

He tightened his hold on her as he buried his face in her hair. "I'm sorry. I know I've messed up a lot. But I love you, Kikyo. You should already know that Kagome means nothing to me."

Kikyo pulled back a bit, looking at him through her watery eyes. Inuyasha _had_ seen her cry before, but it was never over him. This made him realize that Kikyo was human too; just like any other woman she had the same insecurities, same emotions. He knew saying Kagome meant nothing to him was a gross exaggeration, just moments ago he had even thought to himself that he enjoyed the girl's company. But she was a good friend, nothing more. It was best if Kikyo wasn't aware of their friendship. Kikyo could be very possessive when she wanted to be and if that lead to more hurt feelings, well he wouldn't take the risk.

"I'm sorry too." Kikyo mumbled quietly as she looked away. "I shouldn't have gotten so worked up. It's just…I was scared I was losing you."

Inuyasha pulled her back into an embrace. She wasn't usually so open with him and he was sort of shocked at the apology but her confession made him realize just how much he cared for her. They were two lost souls, and their relationship had never been that great, but they really did need each other.

* * *

Kagome was having a great day. It was one of those rare ones where she even woke up feeling like she was on top of the world, ready to take on any challenge and come out unscathed.

She had just finished her afterschool shift at Wac Donald's, the minimum-wage-paying fast food joint and she was still pumped. Her manager had let her off early, she had just received her pay check, not once did a customer complain about how long it was taking to get their food and even the old creepy man who hit on her daily with some cheesy pickup line was nowhere to be found.

Kagome slipped on her jacket, mittens and wrapped a scarf around her neck, then slung her backpack over her shoulder, calling out a cheerful goodbye to the other workers as she left the shop. Outside, the streets were piled with snow. The snowfall had started last night and when Kagome had gotten up that morning she was surprised to see the world blanketed in a beautiful white. It had stopped around lunchtime at school but it was surprising how fast so much of the stuff could accumulate in just a couple of hours. If most of the sidewalks hadn't been shovelled, she'd have a hard time walking through the snow in her sneakers.

She headed towards the bus stop, the thin layer of snow crunching beneath her shoes. Sango was busy today so she was stuck taking public transit. Not that she minded in the least, she was used to it by now. As a student and with a family that was struggling to make ends meet, it was hard to afford a car. The only thing was that it might take a little longer than usual for her to get to her destination. It was rush hour after all and traffic was bound to be slow with today's weather conditions. And even Inuyasha would no doubt give her hell if she showed up late today. They had to make it to the go-see on time and she was going with Inuyasha again. This time, Kagome felt a bit more confident…but only a bit.

Kagome trekked on, the bus stop appearing in her line of sight. She was just a block away but it was cold and she was starting to feel numb so it was getting hard to walk fast.

She heard the noise of a bus as it approached and turned with dread. The bus was coming and she hadn't made it to the stop yet! Letting out a groan she made a run for it.

"No, no no…wait for me!" she cried, running as fast as she could, which wasn't saying much because she had never been a fast runner in the first place. But instead of slowing down the bus sped up, and passed her and the bus stop altogether before she could even make it halfway.

Kagome kicked the snow angrily, her breath coming out in small white puffs in front of her face. She ran the rest of the distance to the stop, and looked at the timings. Another bus wasn't due for half an hour and already she was shaking from the cold.

"This is just great." She muttered bitterly holding her head in her hands. She could either wait there and freeze to death or walk back to Wac Donald's and risk missing the next bus. In both instances, she'd still be late getting to Inuyasha and he'd still hold it against her the rest of the day.

Making her decision, Kagome turned dejectedly and began her trek back to the fast food joint. She was half hoping some of the other girls would still be there and maybe she could beg for a lift. She was so caught up in glaring angrily at the snow, her on-top-of-the-world mood having been squashed completely, that she didn't even notice the sound of someone walking behind her before it was too late.

A strong arm snaked around her waist to hold her still, while another gloved hand covered her eyes and made her gasp at the sudden lack of sight.

She held back the scream that was working its way up her throat and struggled to turn around.

"Guess who?" a familiar voice said, too close for comfort and Kagome could practically hear the grin in the person's voice. She knew that voice. She stopped squirming at once, relief taking place over panic.

"Kouga?"

She heard him let out a short laugh then was rewarded when he removed the hand that was covering her eyes. She blinked a few times, adjusting herself to the sudden assault of white again, and then turned to Kouga.

"What are you doing here?"

Kouga raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't sound like you're happy to see me."

"Oh no, Kouga I didn't mean it like that! You just scared me is all." Kouga noticed the way she blushed prettily, a sheepish smile lighting her face. "For a second there, I thought I was being kidnapped."

Kouga scratched the back of his neck and laughed. "Oh, right. Sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it, it's actually nice to see you outside the studio for once. I guess it's been a while since we hung out together. But anyway, what _are_ you doing around this side of town? "

Kouga shrugged, his sharp blue eyes leaving hers to look back at the other side of the road. She recognized his bike - the yellow flames against the black body were pretty eye catching- parked in front of what looked like a jewellery store.

"Were you buying something from there?" she asked, curious as ever.

Kouga's eyes met hers. "No." he said. Too quickly, Kagome noticed. He shrugged again, brushing his dark bangs out of his eyes.

"Couldn't find parking anywhere else." He cleared his throat uneasily and deftly changed subjects. "What about you, what are you doing walkin' around here by yourself?"

"I work at the Wac Donalds remember?" She said sullenly. "I got off early but I missed my bus."

Kouga smiled down at her. He'd known Kagome for a while, but he never really could get over how cute it was when she pouted. He put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer.

"This is why you have me Kagome. I'll give you a lift home." He could feel her hesitating and he grinned again, his canines brushing against his lip. "Oh don't worry. I'll drive carefully, I promise. A little snow ain't going to stop me."

"It's not that," Kagome said, pulling away slightly. "I'm not going home. I'm going downtown."

He frowned. "On a school night? To do what exactly?"

It was Kagome's turn to look uneasy. She played with the frayed ends of her scarf. "Um, just some business I have to take care of….you know, the usual."

"You suck at lying." Kouga replied bluntly, crossing his arms. "Tell me what you're really up to."

Kagome bit her lip uncertainly. No one besides family, Sango and the people who worked at the agency or for Kikyo really knew about the whole temporary replacement thing and she had never planned on telling Kouga. But then again, she could practically hear Inuyasha growling about how she had been late two days in a row and how unprofessional it was to show up late to a go-see. Inuyasha would understand right? She really did need that lift from Kouga.

"Ohh alright," she conceded at last. "But Kouga, you have to promise not to breathe a word of this to anyone else ok?"

Kouga smiled; satisfied she wasn't keeping anything from him. "Anything for you, Kagome."

* * *

Inuyasha paced back and forth impatiently. Around him, there was the hustle and bustle of the group of people that made up Kikyo's usual entourage as they got ready to go to Kikyo's go-see. They were all gathered in the main lobby and every once in a while Inuyasha paused to glace out the big glass doors in hopes of seeing that stupid schoolgirl running up to the building. Usually the models that went to go-sees would go on their own, sent by the agency with little but their own portfolios but since this was for Kikyo-and the popularity Kikyo had gained over the years was nothing to be laughed at-she'd be given the job right away. The photo shoot for the magazine cover would take place right after and that was where Kikyo's little groupie would be needed.

Naturally, they only came along not because they were _really_ needed, the magazine provided a crew of their own after all, but because Kikyo was very stubborn and she would only have her people work on her. With Kagome taking Kikyo's place for today, Inuyasha had thought to make the virtually useless group of stylists stay back but soon changed his mind when he realized that being around a larger group of people that Kagome already knew would make it much easier on her. He knew she was still pretty shaken up from the last time with Mike but Inuyasha would make sure this time around Kagome would be surrounded by enough people to be safe and comfortable. But while he was doing his part to make it easier on her, where in the seven hells was _she_?

They were starting to run late and she still had yet to show up. They'd have to get her in her make-up and a casual but classy outfit so that she could look the part but then that would take time too.

"Sir, we're all ready. Should we wait here for Kagome or should we just…Sir? Inuyasha are you listening?"

Inuyasha turned away from the doors and rounded on the unfortunate young woman that had interrupted his thoughts. "Quit yapping, I heard you." He snapped.

He could see the young woman practically had to bite her tongue to hold in a retort, but it seemed that she'd been one of the few workers who had been at the agency for a while and was used to Inuyasha's tendency to blow up unexpectedly because she did little more than sigh and purse her lips.

"I'm sorry sir…but you still haven't answered my question."

"Just take the rest of the crew and get going. When Kagome gets here I'll bring her over myself."

"But sir, what are we supposed to do there without-"

"Stop being so dense and use your brain. We're going to need someone to stall for us until that idiot gets here!" Inuyasha turned away from the woman, supressing a growl. Stupid Kagome, even though Kikyo all but had the job, it was still never a good idea to show up late to the go-see. It was all about presenting yourself and showing up late showed that you didn't give a crap.

The stylist just nodded, finding it hard not to roll her eyes heavenward as she did so when Inuyasha's back was to her.

She turned to the rest of the group that was standing at attention in the lobby and after rounding them up they left the building in a rush.

Soon Inuyasha was left to fume alone. He crossed his arms in a huff and glared at nothing in particular.

This was stupid, if he was wasting time waiting around for Kagome he might as well take a moment for himself. He needed some fresh air. Inuyasha pushed open the glass doors to the main entrance of the building and stepped out into the frigid air. The snow had started to fall again, and he liked how the cold weather made the streets of Tokyo less crowded than usual. Well, at least the snow was good for something. But then again, the roads were much more packed as people rushed home, eager to get into their warm and cozy homes, to families huddled near a welcoming fireplace…

'_Oh God, I'm doing it again.'_ Inuyasha smirked bitterly. _'Thinking about what I don't have.'_ His amber eyes slid closed and he leaned his head back against the wall._ 'Well fuck that.'_

He reached into his jacket and pulled out the pack of cigarettes he'd bought that morning. He looked at it grimly. Inuyasha had stopped smoking a couple of months ago. It had been his second attempt. The first time, he'd tried quitting cold turkey but the very next day he'd had a fight with his father and all of a sudden he didn't give a rat's ass about saving his lungs. Or anything else for that matter.

He pulled one out of the box and shoved the box back into his pocket. He looked at the cigarette contemplatively. He actually didn't enjoy smoking. He hated the smell, and for some reason he never did get used to the taste like everyone else seemed to. If he started again now, it would only be more of a pain later. But the act of smoking itself had just become so routine that it was more of a way to take his mind off of things than anything else. He really needed to take his mind off things today.

He had just brought the cigarette to his lips when a motorcycle pulled up in front of the building, skidding slightly as it rolled to a stop and sending snow flying just inches away from where he stood.

The man on the bike kicked the foot brake down and turned to Inuyasha with a smirk very much like his own.

Inuyasha didn't hold back a snarl. He recognized the man. It was that Kouga guy…and with her arms around that mangy wolf's waist was…

"Kagome?"

Hearing her name, Kagome turned her helmet clad head towards him.

"Inmpuhrry!"

Inuyasha exchanged a look with Kouga. "Did you catch that?"

Kouga shrugged. "No clue.'"

Kagome made an exasperated sound then pulled the helmet off, her hair tumbling out and around her shoulders in a messy wave.

"I am so sorry! Am I too late? Please tell me I'm not too late." She hopped off the bike, stumbling a bit then corrected herself and turned to Inuyasha again with big, apologetic eyes.

Inuyasha scowled. "Oh you're late alright. The rest of the crew already left. What the hell were you doing that was so important?" He stopped long enough to glare at Kouga. "Never mind, I don't even want to know."

Kagome made a disbelieving sound at the back of her throat. Inuyasha did not just subtly imply that she'd been out and about with Kouga. "Inuyasha, I wasn't out prancing in the streets. I needed a lift, Kouga happened to be in the area and there was a lot of traffic you know!"

"Save it princess, if you don't want to be here then just say so, you don't need to string us all along whenever you feel like it. A lot of people's careers depend on this and you show up late every fucking day and I don't need that crap."

Kouga stepped in front of Kagome defensively and glared back at the hanyou. "Hey, don't talk to her that way. The way I see it, you should be thanking her that she at least gives you the time of day. She's the one doing _you_ a favour. And I can't understand why, seeing as you smell like a stinking mutt."

Inuyasha rounded on Kagome again, shock and anger getting the best of him. "You told him? The deal is supposed to be confidential and you go and tell this fucking idiot." He threw his hands up in the air not noticing the way Kagome's lip had started to quiver. "Nice one Kagome. Why don't you tell all your other friends now so they can join in too!"

"I didn't mean to." Kagome replied quietly, and Inuyasha froze, the anger sapping out of him in an instant when he smelled the distinct scent of her tears. "And I didn't mean to come late either." She swiped at her eyes as they leaked out.

"H-hey, don't cry." He said awkwardly. Crap, he'd been a little too harsh hadn't he?

"Look what you did you moron you-"

Inuyasha flipped Kouga off, effectively silencing him and put his hand on Kagome's shoulder. He was never great at comforting someone but he could try. He'd been a jerk once again and somehow managed to make another girl cry in the same week.

"We're actually not too late." He said gruffly. "I sent the crew there so they could stall so we should be alright for today. Now stop cryin' so we can get you fixed up or we'll really manage to get late."

He didn't say more, just squeezed her shoulder lightly, his own way of apologizing. Kagome seemed to understand because she wiped away the tears and was able to meet his eyes. "You're really not mad?"

Inuyasha smirked. "I think I'll get over it. Now come on! We're wasting _so_ much time."

Grabbing her elbow, he steered her towards the doors but she stopped and turned to Kouga who'd been watching the exchange grudgingly.

"I'm sorry for being so much trouble Kouga but thanks for dropping me off. I'll call you sometime!"

Before Kouga could even open his mouth to reply, Inuyasha had pulled Kagome inside the building and he watched through the glass doors as the two disappeared from his line of sight.

He sighed and straddled his bike. Slipping on the helmet Kagome had left behind; he couldn't help but take in a deep whiff of the fresh scent that still clung to it.

* * *

A/N: So there you have it. Sorry to the Kikyo-haters for that sappy scene between her and Inuyasha but I want to sort of stick (fairly loosely) to the main outline of what happens in the anime..and there are a lot of sappy moments between those two. And Inuyasha seemed awfully devoted to Kikyo for a while there but like the anime, things will fall into place for Inu-Kag too. So patience grass hoppers, I promise I won't disappoint. Review if you're a good person...haha I'm kidding, you're all good peeps whether you review or not, but they will get you on my good side sooo... ;)


	15. Not Alone

Apologies for the very long break between updates! I've been really busy with school so they may be even more random than before as I never know when I'll get the time to spend on this. Thanks to all the readers who have followed the story thus far though (if any are left...), I truly appreciate you all. That being said, this chapter deals with a lot of things one of them having to do with the fashion world in general and I'd love it if I got some input on everyone else's opinions :)

Enjoy the read!

* * *

**Chapter Fifteen: Not Alone**

* * *

"I am _not_ wearing that."

"Honey, you have to…I don't think you have a choice here."

Aya turned away from Kagome and began to pace the length of the changing room. She was having a really tough time with this girl. Not to say that Kagome wasn't a sweet, kind, wholesome young woman or that Aya didn't appreciate the fact that she was one of the few teens these days that actually held on to her morals, but sometimes it was just easier when the girls she worked with threw those morals out the window. Kagome though, was having none of it.

"Nuh-uh. No way." Kagome said firmly. "I'm not getting into _that_ outfit and having a picture of it plastered onto the cover of an honest-to-god magazine."

"Oh come on, it's not that bad…and besides, a lot of women these days wear things like this. You've got a model's body, what are you so worried about?" Aya turned to Kagome, shooting her a reproving look.

Kagome scoffed and shook her head again. She felt bad about giving the lady a hard time, but there was no chance in hell that she was going to slip into something that would get her grounded for the rest of her life. That and it was just too….provocative for her tastes. Kagome couldn't even picture herself in it let alone harbour the idea that it would be what she had to wear for the shoot. What hundreds of people would ineveitably see her in.

"Just put it on will you?" Aya pleaded, finally at the end of her rope. Kagome didn't seem to be giving way and though she hated to do it, Aya had no choice but to use the guilt card.

She sighed and tried to look as disappointed as she could.

"Everyone's waiting for us already and if I don't get you ready and out that door in five minutes, I might as well just kiss my job goodbye." She turned around and heaved a passioante sigh. "You know, Inuyasha just might fire me if I can't even get you to change."

Aya peeked over her shoulder in time to catch Kagome's face fall and she had to keep from grinning in victory. Being a mother of two unruly teens herself, she knew just what to do to get what she wanted without being the bad guy.

"Wait," Kagome hesitated, shaking her head in denial. "Inuyasha wouldn't do that over something so trivial. Besides, it won't be your fault if I tell him that_ I'm_ the one who's not willing to cooperate right?" She smiled with confidence but it slipped when she remembered how angry he'd been with her just a few hours earlier. It wasn't likely that he'd put up with her for a second time today.

Aya threw up her hands in defeat. This girl would be the end of her. She stared Kagome down, suddenly stern as ever.

"This is ridiculous! You're a model for God's sake. You have to wear whatever they tell you to wear! That's how you earn _money _sweetheart."

Kagome frowned and held up a finger. "First off, I'm not even a model. You know that right? I'm just filling in for Kikyo _and_ I'm still in high school! I even get all self-conscious when I'm at the beach wearing a one-piece swim suit so there is no possible way I'm getting into that, that…_thing_."

Aya raised a perfectly shaped brow in amusement and crossed her arms. "It's just some sexy lingerie dear, we're not making you parade around in the nude."

Kagome blushed furiously at the mention of it but just as she was opening her mouth to retort, the dressing room door slammed open. Kagome didn't even have to look to know who it was.

A silver head poked in and amber eyes looked around, glaring at Kagome when she quickly turned to face him.

Kagome glared right back. "Hey!" she said indignantly. "Ever heard of knocking? I could have been changing!"

"But you're not." Aya piped up sarcastically from behind her.

"What the hell are you still doing Kagome?" Inuyasha said striding into the room after closing the door behind him. "Get changed right now. We don't have time for any silly games, they're ready for you."

"Have you even seen what my outfit is?" Kagome asked, horrified that Inuyasha might have been behind the whole mess.

"What? No." After seeing Kagome's incredulous stare he shrugged. "Who cares? You wear what the fashion experts here want you to wear. You can't argue with 'em."

Aya sighed loudly. "That's what I've been telling her this whole time."

Kagome grabbed the offending clothing from Aya and held it in front of Inuyasha's face, catching him off guard.

"I'm only 18 years old Inuyasha. I'm still in high school. I may look like Kikyo but let me remind you once again that I'm _not_ a professional model."

Inuyasha's eyes widened as they focused on the designer lingerie Kagome held before him, the lace and frills practically tickling his nose.

"Well...I don't see anything wrong with it." Even as he said this, he backed away cautiously.

Kagome glowered at him. "Inuyasha, can you even imagine _me_ of all people wearing this? My mother would kill me!"

Kagome watched in horror as Inuyasha's face went red. She gasped and whacked him on the head. "You pervert! Stop imagining me wearing it!"

"Ow! Cut it... out!" He caught her hand in his to keep her from hitting him again. "No one would want to see you in something like that anyway, stupid . You couldn't pull off sexy if you tried."

Kagome smiled, finally satisfied. "Good." Then the rest of his meaning dawned on her.

"Hey, you're being mean to me again!"

"And you're being a brat!"

"I can't believe you'd sign me up for an underwear shoot you pervert!"

"I'M not a pervert!"

Aya rolled her eyes as she watched the two bicker back and forth, their voices rising and their faces inching closer during the heated conversation. She could be having a heart attack right beside them and the way those two were so absorbed with each other, she'd be dead and gone before they noticed. She cleared her throat, not surprised in the least that it didn't get their attention and opted instead to barge her way in between them, startling them to silence.

"If you two are done being completely immature, can I ask what in the world we're going to do about the shoot that starts in _two_ minutes?"

Inuyasha started, jerking away from Kagome after realizing that they'd gotten in each others faces so much so that they were almost nose-to-nose. He turned his back to them and began pacing the length of the room as Aya had done earlier while the two women in the room watched him with baited breath for his reaction.

He racked his brain for a solution and coming up empty, Inuyasha threw his head back in frustration and slanted a look at Kagome.

"I did promise I'd look out for you."

He stared hard at her, standing there with her large brown eyes focused on him. "Are you sure we can't change your mind about the outfit?"

Kagome hung her head, not willing to meet his gaze. She didn't want to see Inuyasha look disappointed in her for a second time that day.

"I'm sorry I've let you down again…but Inuyasha I just… I can't do it. I don't _want_ to do it." She chanced a look up to see if he understood what she meant. His eyes held hers for what felt like eternity and she was beginning to get that feeling again, lost and completely unsure but then he just shrugged and the moment was over.

"Okay then."

Kagome was shocked to see that she couldn't find any hint of disappointment in him. In fact…he even looked a bit relieved.

"Okay then?" she parroted. "What do you mean? What are we going to do now for the shoot?"

"Inuyasha you can't be serious," Aya exclaimed pushing past Kagome to make her way over to the half-demon all the while looking like she was going to faint.

"I hope you realize that the editors will be outraged and they'll likely never hire from our agency again. "

Inuyasha scratched the back of his head, lost in thought. "I think the only thing I can do now is talk to them, see if I can't get them to give us another job."

"Why go through all that trouble? Just make her wear the damn outfit!" Aya turned and looked at the school girl. "Isn't there some contract you signed Kagome? Breaking a contract is some serious stuff and if you agreed to the terms you can't back out now."

"Aya, leave her alone." Inuyasha put a hand on the older woman's shoulder. "I'm not making her do anything she doesn't feel like doing."

Inuyasha's eyes met hers again and they flitted away just as quickly. Right then Kagome felt a warm feeling filling her up and she had the sudden urge to just hug him. Aya was right, she had signed a contract and if Inuyasha wanted, he could force her into just about anything to model. His refusal to do so though surprised her. He really meant it when he said he'd look out for her.

Aya shook her head at her boss. "You know, I can't believe you're being so stupid, and I don't know how it'll ever work but I might as well come with you to talk to the editing panel."

He caught the stylists' worried eyes and smirked. "Hey, it's just one magazine cover. If they don't want us I'm sure some other company will just take their place in line."

"I'm coming with you too." Kagome blurted. She'd been quietly contemplating what she could do to help and that seemed like the prfect idea.

"I can help. You said everyone loves Kikyo. If I try maybe they'll listen?"

"No." Inuyasha answered quickly. "That won't be needed. I'm going to have to use some excuse like, you don't feel well or that you have a bruise you don't feel comfortable with others seeing. If you're there it'd be harder to convince them that whatever I say is true."

"Are you sure? I could just-"

"I said no."

Kagome frowned and Inuyasha looked away.

"I know you want to help Kagome, but you'll just get in the way." He explained, turning his back on her. "I think Aya and I can handle this one on our own."

"If that's what you want," Kagome muttered, deflating. She was just trying to be helpful, but apparently Inuyasha still thought of her as a bother. Even if he was right, he didn't have to act as if allowing her to help would kill his dignity or something.

"I guess I'll just sit tight then." she called out pointedly as she watched them leave.

Inuyasha had been about to follow Aya, who had stepped out of the room, but he slowed and turned back to Kagome once again, his eyebrows drawn together as he contemplated something.

Kagome looked upset again and he had a feeling that his conscience wouldn't let him have a wink of sleep tonight for making her cry before. That was one incident that he really did regret. But his heart had been in the right place hadn't it? All he wanted to do was make everything okay between him and Kikyo and ever since last night he knew he had to try and put some distance between himself and Kagome. He had promised himself he would, for Kikyo's sake and maybe for his own sake as well. In Inuyasha's mind the best way of doing that was to do what he'd always done, act like a jerk. He may have pulled it off well but for some inexplicable reason the minute he'd realized he was responsible for Kagome's tears he wanted to take it all back. Something inside of him couldn't handle knowing he hurt her.

He had said he would protect her. But so far he'd done a crap job.

"What?" Kagome finally blurted definsively. He'd been staring at her with such a focused look, it made her feel suddenly anxious.

"Did you get a chance to eat yet?" He demanded irritably. Obviously he wasn't going to overdo it with the special show of concern. "You go to work right after school and you said you rushed to the agency."

Kagome didn't reply.

"Go get something from the cafeteria downstairs." He ordered.

"I'm not hungry." she said sullenly but the mention of food had her stomach growling in protest. She crossed her arms over her traitorous stomach and silently cursed her fast metabolism.

"Liar." He said smirking in response, pulling out his wallet from his pocket and throwing it over to her. She caught it gracefully for once and looked at it questioningly.

"What's this for?"

"Food's probably expensive here. If you need extra cash there should be more than enough in there."

Kagome glanced back at him, feeling embarrassed. "I don't need money from you."

"Can we get going?" Aya called out impatiently from somewhere behind Inuyasha in the doorway.

The hanyou turned back to Kagome with a look that meant he didn't want to argue.

"Cafeteria' s on the main floor so go straight there and get back here and _stay_ here alright?"

"Yes sir." Kagome muttered.

"And don't say a word to anyone on the way!" Inuyasha added before he was whisked away by a very miffed Aya.

"You sure have a soft spot for the girl don't you?" Aya said looking at him warily as they walked down the hall. "I've never seen you bend like that for Kikyo."

"I have no soft spot of any sort...for anyone." he looked at Aya pointedly. "Especially for that girl."

Aya rolled her eyes heavenward and walked off, leaving Inuyasha staring behind her.

The truth was, he was a lying bastard. That fact alone, was enough to seriously worry him.

* * *

Inuyasha, that lying bastard.

"He's just _so _specific with his directions." Kagome grumbled to herself, tactfully ignoring the looks she was getting from the rest of the people occupying the elevator.

It was large enough that the five or six people that inhabited it weren't plastered to each other's sides but Kagome wasn't thrilled with small, closed off spaces. It was fairly awkward too, being in an enclosed area with strangers and mirrors surrounding you to give the illusion that you were in a larger crowd than you really were. The building was quite huge, thirty floors huge exactly, and so the elevator rides up and down definitely wasted a lot of time.

And Kagome would know since she'd spent the better half of the past fifteen minutes stuck in one. She'd gone out of the dressing room in search of the cafeteria Inuyasha had been on about but when she got to the main floor, she couldn't find it anywhere. Who knew the main floor would be so darn big? And Inuyasha had hardly drawn out a map for her so after trotting around aimlessly for a bit, hungry and getting agitated by the second, she made up her mind and decided to go back to her room to wait for Inuyasha and Aya.

She was trying to tune out the ghastly elevator music- surprised that they actually did that sort of thing- when she felt a pair of eyes on her, and noticed that the young man they belonged to was standing just to her right. She shifted nervously in place, darting an anxious glance at him when he just kept right on staring. He was tall, broad shouldered and had good looks to match. Dark hair tied in a braid down his back, dark eyes that went well with his tie and the rest of his flashy business attire made it easy to assume he must have be an employee here.

His lips turned upwards into a small smile and Kagome frowned, wondering what amused him so, too late realizing that she'd been staring back and he had caught her in the act. She practically got whip lash from turning away so fast trying to act like the floor was a very interesting specimen to observe.

"Where are you headed?" the guy asked, leaning slightly towards her.

"Excuse me?" Kagome bit her lip, silencing herself from saying more as she had the vague feeling she'd been told not to talk to anyone.

"I heard you say something about directions. You don't happen to be lost?"

She smiled politely. "It's okay, I was looking for the cafeteria on the main floor but I couldn't find it so I figured I'd head back upstairs."

"I happen to know where it is. I wouldn't mind showing you myself."

"Umm…"

Kagome barely got the chance to get a proper word out because the doors opened right then and without waiting for her to agree, the man put a hand on Kagome's shoulder and stepped out of the elevator, pulling her along with him.

"Uh, you really didn't have to..." Kagome muttered but the guy had already pulled her out and the doors to their elevator were already sliding shut.

He walked a little ways over to the next one, pushing the 'down' arrow and turning back to her to extend his hand.

"My name's Bankotsu and like I said, I really don't mind."

Kagome shook his hand and smiled politely. "Nice to meet you, Bankotsu. I'm Kago- I'm Kikyo."

Bankotsu looked down at her slyly. "Kikyo Kinto, I know." At Kagome's puzzled look he chuckled. "You're a model whose face has been all over Japan lately, I'd be a fool not to recognize you."

"Oh yes, silly me." Kagome said laughing lightly. She was just relieved she'd caught herself before she slipped up and gave her real name.

"Do you work here Bankotsu?" she asked, trying to steer the conversation away from the woman she was impersonating.

He grinned, almost as if he was laughing at some inside joke. "Yeah, something like that."

So he must have been an intern or something. He sure looked pretty young, Kagome thought. And he wasn't displaying any creepy behavior or setting off any danger alarms in her so as far as she could tell, he was harmless.

The elevator going back down signaled its arrival and Bankotsu ushered them in. When they made it to the main floor he led her towards the cafeteria which happened to be in the east wing of the building.

"Ah, I was way off." Kagome mused. She'd generally just walked in circles around the west side of the main floor. "I don't get why they don't just put some proper signs up. It'd be much easier for new comers."

"Hm, I'll remember to do that." Bankotsu murmured almost to himself.

"Sorry, did you say something?"

"Oh nothing," he replied glancing at the young model. He knew there was a shoot taking place today for the next week's issue of _Fahion Mogul _in which Kikyo would grace the front cover, so she was definitely the famed model all right, but there was something off about her. He'd always heard she was a total snob and a spoiled brat when she wasn't under the public's eye so he never expected to like her but so far, she was actually good company.

He looked at his watch and then grinned down at Kagome. "I've got some time to kill, how about we eat together?"

Kagome nodded, smiling sheepishly. "Sure, but do you mind if we take our food to my change room? I was told by my agent to get my butt back in there before he returned."

* * *

Inuyasha rubbed the back of his neck. Damn it all, he needed break. Getting an earful from the editors wasn't particularly a walk in the park. He looked at Aya and she seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"Look, isn't there anything we can set up for tomorrow? Or can't your stylists come up with a different theme?" He knew it was asking too much but it was worth a shot.

The head editor of the project looked at the hanyou like he was looking at a bug that needed squashing.

"Are you out of your mind? We've got everything ready and in place and you want to put all our effort to waste?"

"I already told you, Kikyo's got allergies. She has a pretty bad rash on her stomach and…well, there's nothing I can do about it."

The editor smirked. "It's called airbrushing. Even if she was covered in tattoos we could edit them out."

"But that's not the problem." Inuyasha countered. "Kikyo's never going to let anyone see it. She doesn't even feel comfortable with others knowing about it so I don't think she'll be ready to pose in front of a camera. You know how these super models are."

"Exactly," Aya put in eagerly. "We can't really change Kikyo's mind right? So how about something we _can_ change? If you just give me a couple of minutes, I can help your stylists come up with a different outfit and voila, problem solved." Aya clasped her hands and grinned expectantly.

"You'll have your cover and Kikyo won't complain." She added.

The head editor didn't look convinced. "That's asking for an awful lot."

Inuyasha turned to Aya and smiled devilishly. "We could always just drop by_ 'In Style' _and let them know Kikyo's ready for their own cover shoot. They've been so eager to have her modeling for their magazine."

He paused, turning his attention back to the rankled looking editor and the rest of the editing panel, acting as if something just dawned on him. "Wait, wouldn't _'In Style'_ just happen to be one of _'Fashion Mogul's'_ biggest competitors?"

His question didn't need an answer. The head editor gave Inuyasha a death glare and pulled out his cell phone in as most dignified way as he could. "Now don't be so hasty," he said with over exaggerated pleasantness. "I'll call and see what we can do."

* * *

"I just don't get why the world is so obsessed with objectifying women and treating them like eye candy _all _the time you know?"

Kagome put down her sandwich and looked across the table at Bankotsu who was, at the moment, the epitome of a good listener. At the cafeteria Bankotsu had graciously paid for both their meals and although Kagome refused good-heartedly at first, in the end she gave in, partly relieved that she wouldn't have to be mooching off of Inuyasha any more than she already was. The two had then headed up to Kagome's dressing room where after a bit of awkward filler conversation-she actually did bring up the weather- they seemed to hit a topic of interest. And now that had somehow turned into a debate.

Bankotsu put down his own meal and returned her gaze with a serious one of his own.

"I agree with you on some level Kikyo, I really do... but what magazine companies like _'Fashion Mogul'_ aim for is to empower women with style and creativity. Fashion isn't meant to degrade women, it is really an art."

Kagome scoffed and leaned back in her seat to cross her arms.

"And modeling half-naked and making young girls feel like they have to show just as much skin, to be just as sexy as the rest of the models is empowering them I suppose?"

"There's nothing wrong with showing skin to feel good and look sexy." Bankotsu replied with a smile.

"You're a guy of course you would say that!" Kagome laughed and glared at him playfully.

Bankotsu grinned but then he cocked his head, something occurring to him.

"But you'd think as a model yourself you'd be endorsing showing skin and being sexy. I mean it _is_ your job...and if I recall you've shown a lot of skin for your career so far."

Kagome frowned, suddenly worried that she might have let the conversation get too personal. She was forgetting yet again that she was Kikyo Kinto at the moment and that meant Kagome Higurashi would have to take the back seat.

"Of course, you're right. I have nothing against women looking good and feeling good but I guess sometimes even I get sick of the same old lingerie shoot." She picked huffily at her sandwich before taking a big bite, busying herself with eating.

She was sure that was something even Kikyo should have to agree with and it made sense, all she ever saw was women in magazines wearing skimpy clothes just to advertise something random like a brand of beer. It was offensive to her simply because it made women out to be objects and not individuals with personalities. A woman shouldn't have to strip to make people find her attractive. Kagome had nothing against fashion, just the objectification of people.

Bankotsu watched her chew angrily, thinking to himself how different she really was from what he had expected her to be. He didn't know a single model that had been in _'Fashion Mogul'_ who'd actually had a problem with the way women in general were portrayed by the editors _and_ had the guts to even speak up about it. She was different and he had to admit, he liked her spunk.

"Well what would you have the models do then?" he asked, curiosity getting the better of him and Kagome looked up from her food giving him her attention.

"That is, if you had any say in it?" he elaborated.

She smiled as if she already had the answer to his question and was just so excited that she was getting a chance to tell someone about it.

"That's easy. Like today for example, instead of having to wear this silly underwear to look good, if the stylists changed the theme for me from sexy to like I dunno, daring or brave, then I think that would make me as a model and idol to women in general a lot more easy to relate to and attractive at the same time. There's nothing wrong with a girl getting her hands dirty or riding a bike instead of being draped across said bike to make it sell."

She finished off with a pleased nod and Bankotsu smiled at her, looking quite amused. He wanted to tell her how much he loved her way of thinking but was interrupted when his phone began to ring. He pulled it out quickly and after looking at the screen with a hint of irritation, he looked at her apologetically and got up.

"You'll have to excuse me for a second Kikyo."

"Sure thing." Kagome smiled and watched him leave the room, closing the door silently behind him. While he was gone she got up and stretched and finishing the last of her sandwich and drink gathered her garbage up and threw it in the nearby wastebasket.

She pulled out her own phone next, and checked to see if either Inuyasha or Aya had sent a text to update her on their situation. Kagome put her phone away with a shrug. Well, no texts. That either meant they were still busy talking to the editors or had been unsuccessful and were too angry to be concerned with her right now. She liked to think it was the first reason.

The door opened and in walked Bankotsu. He stopped infront of her and gave her an apologetic look.

"Sorry about running out like that, I just needed to take care of a few things."

Kagome shook her head. "It's fine really," she assured. "Inuyasha's probably going to come get me in a couple of minutes anyway."

"Inuyasha ...you're agent?"

"Yeah, we came in to do a cover shoot but then I saw what I had to wear and I just didn't feel comfortable getting into the..um...the outfit."

"You mean the lingerie?"

Kagome blushed. "Yeah, that. Anyway, he went to sort it out with the magazine's staff. I just hope everything works out."

Bankotsu nodded and said nothing, he just looked at her calculatingly with his dark eyes.

Kagome realized that he had the unnerving ability to make it hard for her to stare back. She could feel her face heating up and she busied herself by fiddling with the hem of her shirt. Okay, it was suddenly awkward now. Was it just her, or did Bankotsu now seem like he was on to her? Had he figured out that she was an imposter? Or maybe there was just something food in her teeth? It looked like he was trying awfully hard not to smirk.

"Kikyo."

She snapped to attention, and looked at back up at him. She had totally just zoned out for a second there. "Yes?"

"You don't happen to have any allergies do you?"

Okay, was he going to ask her if she'd ever donated blood next? Because that question was pretty random.

"Uh not that I know of," she began; curious as to why he wanted to know about her allergies of all things. "I mean I've never had a reaction to anything before so..." she trailed off and Bankotsu saw a brief moment of realization in her eyes before it was replaced by a look of pure horror.

He could practically see the cogs turning in her head as she put two and two together and finally came to a realization.

Kagome's jaw dropped and she stared at him incredulously. "Oh you can't be serious…"

* * *

Inuyasha was walking down the corridor feeling pretty good for the first time that day. Lately everything had been going all wrong but for once he'd managed to get things back on track. The editing panel had finally gotten permission from the head of the company to go along with the dress change but what's more, they even came up with a completely different theme for the shoot altogether. One that he knew Kagome would love.

Instead of the ordinary cover shoot, they had even signed Kikyo on for a whole campaign about women in the fashion world. Kikyo, or Kagome actually, would be the face for it and this would gain her more than enough popularity to be the spotlight in the fashion show they were planning towards. Kikyo was already loved for her beauty but now even the reluctant fans who'd been turned off by the bad press she received would be drawn to her.

He slowed down when he reached Kagome's dressing room, the grin that was plastered on his face fading when his ears caught voices behind her door. Two voices. One Kagome's and one of an unfamiliar man.

There was someone in there with her.

The memory of hearing her scream and running to find the door locked invaded his thoughts and before he could think his hand moved on the doorknob and he barged in.

The two voices abruptly stopped and a startled Kagome and Bankotsu looked up to see a slightly panicked Inuyasha standing before them.

A beat of silence passed where he just stared at the two while they stared back at him.

"What's going on here?" He said, finally getting his voice to work. His eyes were scanning Kagome but nothing seemed to be wrong with the girl. In fact, she looked fine.

Better than fine.

Kagome-who had paused mid-laugh- blinked at Inuyasha's question, thinking of a way to explain things, but Bankotsu seemed to have caught on earlier and was already getting up to greet him.

"So you're the agent!" He said jovially. "Inuyasha, right? Kagome's been telling me all about you."

Bankotsu laughed. "You've really never played dress-up as a kid?"

Inuyasha ignored the jibe, all he could feel was the panic that had seized him just moments ago fading slowly, leaving him a little drained. He shot an accusing look at the school girl who graciously pretended not to notice and turned his attention back on the man in front of him.

"And who exactly are you?" He questioned warily.

Bankotsu offered his hand. "Bankotsu Takeda, CEO of Fashion mogul." He caught the brief flicker of shock dance across Inuyasha's face and glanced back at Kagome. "Kikyo and I bumped into each other earlier. I figured I should keep her company."

Inuyasha shook the man's hand, not completely convinced about what he was hearing. This guy looked too young to be the owner of such an established company but then again, who was he to judge? People had always given him trouble over his own age, when he was in law school and even now as Kikyo's agent.

"I guess I don't have to introduce myself since _Kikyo's_ done a great job of that already." He muttered, shooting Kagome a pointed look.

Bankotsu smiled and glanced back, his eyes meeting Kagome's. "Well, she was right about your sarcasm too."

Inuyasha returned the smile tightly, choosing not to reply.

Bankotsu's phone rang again, interrupting any further conversation and he quickly answered.

"I have to get this, see you at the shoot Kikyo." He said excusing himself. He paused long enough to acknowledge Inuyasha with a nod before exiting the dressing room, leaving Kagome and her agent alone.

Inuyasha turned to her, his earlier annoyance at Kagome subsiding when he remembered what he came to tell her.

"I'm going to pretend that you did not just invite a stranger into your dressing room when I specifically told you not to talk to anyone because… well, I've got good news." He allowed himself to smile, trying hard not to show too much enthusiasm.

"You won't believe what happened."

Kagome grinned back at him. "Wait, I already know what you're going to say." she interrupted, practically brimming with excitement herself.

"Oh." Inuyasha frowned, slightly disappointed that he wasn't the one who got to reveal the news to her and slightly confused. "So... you were with him when the editors called?"

"Yeah, but at the time I had no idea he was the CEO of the _whole _company! He's surprisingly really nice and he listened to me rant about what the magazine industry makes model's wear for a good while." She laughed, turning red with embarrassment and Inuyasha wanted to scoff but knew better by now than to interrupt her.

Kagome continued, "And when he got the call that's when he told the editors to do whatever you asked. So this whole time he knew my reason for not wearing their outfit wasn't allergies but even then he decided to come up with this whole campaign for us! Isn't that great?" Kagome stepped over to him, placing her hands on her hips and practically puffing up with pride.

"And you said, I couldn't help." she said cheekily.

Inuyasha laughed humorlessly, glaring.

"That's hilarious considering you gave us away first. If this Bankotsu guy didn't like you, we'd be kicked out by now because he'd have known we were lying and had no reason to keep us."

Kagome rolled her eyes. "You and your big ego just can't admit that _I_ actually got everything to work out."

"Well congratulations." Inuyasha threw back sarcastically. "Now come on, Aya's waiting for us."

Inuyasha turned and exited the room too, not looking back to see if the school girl had followed. She made a face in his general direction and reluctantly ambled after him.

The two made their way around the corridor and joined Aya in a much larger room where the shoot was taking place. Inuyasha explained to Kagome that today they'd be doing a couple of shots for the cover and then taking a break until the next series of photos would be taken but before he was able to fill her in on anything else, she was whisked away by Kikyo's crew.

Since the theme was empowering women and the editors had already conjured up some scenarios for the shots, she'd be doing much more than the average poses she'd practiced with Francois and her mentors back at the agency.

Inuyasha sat back and watched as the experts took over, the make-up artists and stylists getting Kagome ready into a full leather ensemble complete with messy hair, eye-liner and the whole biker look in seconds while the photographer gave her some pointers before they began.

Bankotsu came strolling in soon after a couple of workers pulling in a shiny, brand new motorcycle behind him.

So that was the prop.

Bankotsu made his way over to the hanyou. "How's everything going so far?" he asked. "Is she ready?"

"Yeah, but how'd you manage to get that bike in here so quick?"

Bankotsu smirked. "I have my ways. Besides, it was all her idea and I didn't want to disappoint her." He looked over to where Kagome was getting the final touches added on to her make-over and Inuyasha watched Bankotsu watch her carefully.

What was up with this Bankotsu guy? He seemed really interested in Kagome...or Kikyo since he had no idea that she was a fake. Inuyasha still wasn't sure why Bankotsu had readily agreed to pretty much change the theme of the whole magazine edition just to accommodate one model. Though he'd never seen or met the man personally before, he'd heard the CEO was a through and through business man. He did what was best for him and his company and as the head of such a large organization, it would make sense that he should only be interested in people that he could use to his advantage… so what was he doing going out of his way to help Kikyo? What was he getting out of it all?

During his musings, the shoot started and Inuyasha stayed put, opting to keep an eye on Kagome from afar. She was definitely improving as a model and it hadn't even been a whole week since she started. As if she had read his thoughts, Inuyasha saw her wobble in her high-heeled leather boots and he stifled a snort. Okay so there was obviously some more work to do with Francoise- he made a mental note to schedule that in sometime soon.

Before long, the photographer stopped and signaled a break and Inuyasha who had been leaning against the far wall of the studio, straightened himself and began to walk over to Kagome. She looked a little tired and he thought he should give her some more pointers before the camera men took over but he stopped in his tracks when he saw Bankotsu already by her side, and from what he could see the man had had a similar thought. He was gesturing for her to take a seat beside the one that was set up for him and Inuyasha watched with sudden irritation as Kagome readily agreed.

The two looked like they were engrossed in whatever they were talking about now so without a second thought, Inuyasha turned foot and walked out of the room.

It was clear that he wouldn't be missed.

* * *

**WARNING:**

_Cigarettes cause lung cancer._

_85% of lung cancers are caused by smoking. _

_80% of lung cancer victims die within 3 years._

Inuyasha flipped the small package over in his hands, ignoring the grotesque picture of a person's deteriorating lungs that had accompanied the warning.

He had wandered around inside aimlessly for a while until he found himself standing in the frigid air outside the front of the towering building that was 'Fashion Mogul'. The snowfall had picked up again and he wandered out into the previously grassy area (for now it was covered in at least 4 inches of snow) that surrounded the building.

Inuyasha stood, still staring at the small package in his hands. He barely felt cold, even though he knew the temperature was dropping considerably. But he was half-demon after all, even this kind of cold wasn't enough to make him start shivering. His hands fumbled with the box as he slipped one cigarette out and turned it over and over in his fingers, his mind preoccupied with things he'd rather have forgotten about.

Well, there was no one here to stop him. It was now or never.

He brought the cigarette to his lips, slightly aware that he was ruining all the time and effort he'd spent to quit the habit in the first place. But before he could make another move, Kagome's head popped up beside him, startling him so bad he nearly fell over.

"What are you doing?" She asked curiously as he bent to pick up the cigarette that had fallen from his lips somewhere onto the snow.

He turned around to face her, glaring daggers. She was bundled up in her winter jacket and scarf but he could still tell that her body was shivering against the biting cold.

"What the hell is wrong with you? How'd you sneak up on me?" he demanded. How had he not heard her approach?

Kagome gave him a petulant look. "I don't believe I was 'sneaking up'. I practically stomped my way through the snow to get to you in the first place. You were just really busy staring at whatever it was you were holding."

At its mention, her eyes travelled to his hands instantly, seeing the now crumpled pack of smokes he was clutching tightly, and the one slightly soggy cigarette in his other hand that he'd picked up from the snow.

"Oh. You smoke?" She asked, but Inuyasha thought it sounded more like an accusation.

"No, I don't." He snapped, shoving the incriminating evidence into his pockets.

"You do know that smoking kills your lungs right?"

"What are you my conscience?"

"I'm just a girl who cares about your lungs."

"Well I wasn't smoking, stupid. I didn't even bring a damn lighter okay?" Kagome stared at him, not convinced.

"Look, you can search me." He took a step towards her, his hands up as if he was facing the police.

Kagome shook her head. "That's okay, I believe you." She smiled pointedly. "But I think I'll take that pack just to be safe."

"Ha, take it. It's not like I need 'em." He griped with forced nonchalance.

He pulled them out grudgingly and slapped them into her mitted hands. She put them carefully in her own pocket and turned back to him. He was staring hard at her, his gold eyes still defensive.

"Why'd you come out here?" he asked finally.

"We're done the first half of the shoot. They said I could take a break while they figured out the next few styles."

"I mean, why did you come out _here_ specifically?" Inuyasha's brow furrowed. He couldn't understand why he suddenly cared if she noticed he'd been gone the whole time, but he did.

Kagome shrugged. "I didn't see you around while we were shooting so I left to look for you. Aya told me that she saw you heading outside."

Inuyasha didn't say anything to that.

She bent down and scooped up a bunch of snow, patting it with her hands and then her eyes brightened. "Hey, it's packing snow. We could make a snowman."

Inuyasha looked back at her like she was out of her mind. She sighed and let the ball of snow fall back to the ground.

"So?" Kagome asked. "Why are _you_ out here? I mean you don't quite look like the type that enjoys this weather."

She had to admit, she was a little hurt that he'd just left her in there with everyone else when he was the only one she really needed to be there for her. She had kept an eye out, thinking he'd gone out for an important call and hoping he'd pop back in to check up on her but this whole time he'd been out here just loitering about.

"I got bored." Inuyasha answered simply.

"What so now you find your own job boring?" Kagome stared at him in disbelief. "What if I had needed you?"

"You looked plenty fine to me." Inuyasha said smirking. "Besides," he put in, and Kagome noticed the way his tone changed, "if you needed any help, you had the CEO at your beck and call."

Kagome frowned. "Bankotsu doesn't know I'm Kagome Higurashi. He knows me as Kikyo. It's not the same."

"You didn't seem to mind him before."

"I don't mind _him_. He's very nice unlike _some_ people. You just don't get how hard it is to keep up a conversation with someone while you have to pretend to be someone else, someone you hardly know."

She sighed. "I just wanted to spend some time… with a _friend_." Her face flamed up just saying it and to her it made no sense. After all, it shouldn't be embarrassing to call him a friend now.

Kagome waited for Inuyasha to say something, silently hoping he would go back in with her after she almost spelled it out for him that she would rather hang out with him. Her break was almost over and she would have to go back and get to work soon enough. Before that, she just wanted to spend some time with Inuyasha; he was really the only person she could let her hair down in front of, so to speak.

He was oddly quiet and feeling scorned for her silent invitation being rejected, she turned away from him, intent on stomping back through the snow to the building.

Fine, Inuyasha could be a grump and stay out here all by himself because she wasn't going to care any more. If he wasn't going to make an effort well neither would she.

She continued to stomp away however she didn't get far because an ice cold impact to the back of her head had her suddenly toppling over.

A scream escaped her as some of the snow from the snowball Inuyasha had hit her with slipped down her neck.

She turned around slowly, mouth open in indignation as Inuyasha stood grinning at her.

"Inuyasha you- you big jerk!" she shrieked, brushing the bits of snow out of her hair and Inuyasha, sensing her intent for murder turned tail and ran.

She gave chase, stopping only to quickly grab a handful of snow which she fashioned into a big snowball herself and threw in his general area. It grazed the side of his arm and he stopped to laugh at her pitiful throw.

"You throw like a girl Kagome." He taunted, catching his breath.

"Oh you'll be crying like a girl when I'm through with you!" Kagome yelled, lobbing two consecutive snowballs at him. Both of them missed him by a mile and Inuyasha doubled over with laughter again.

Kagome's frown melted and she found herself letting out a small laugh of her own in response to his. Okay, so she had bad aim. But that didn't mean he was going to get away with it.

She ran after him again and he turned to flee again but this time his foot slipped in the snow and Kagome took the opportunity to launch herself at him. They both tumbled onto the ground, Inuyasha cushioning their landing with her weight landing directly on him.

She grinned victoriously, moving so she was sitting atop him, her hands planted on either side of his head.

"Gotcha." She breathed, her heart pounding fast in her chest.

Inuyasha smirked, ignoring the way her hair tickled his face. He had to say, he was surprised Kagome was quick enough to catch up to him, although if he hadn't slipped she wouldn't have had a chance at all.

But, he wasn't one for admitting defeat so easily…

In one quick movement he flipped them over suddenly, with such ease that Kagome was left breathless again. Now Kagome was pinned beneath him, his hands planted firmly on either side of her, and he imitated her victory grin.

"Actually, I got you."

Kagome shook her head. "That's not fair. I still win; I caught you first after all."

Inuyasha laughed at that and Kagome smiled back. She hadn't seen him this good-humored all day and she found herself liking this new playful side of him. And it seemed he hadn't rejected her unspoken invitation to spend time together after all. The thought warmed her up more than it should have.

"How about we call it a tie?" he suggested.

"Nope."

"You're being unreasonable. What about my bruised ego?" he arched an eyebrow expectantly waiting for her answer but was distracted when a snowflake fell onto her cheek, just below her eyelashes. His eyes focused on it, watching it melt instantly on her flushed skin. Inuyasha was suddenly very aware of their position, of her heart still pattering away from the adrenaline rush and his own too, that seemed to match hers. Their faces were close enough that their breath mingled in visible puffs of air.

"Inuyasha."

He was pulled out of his thoughts when he felt Kagome tug lightly on a strand of his hair.

"Inuyasha, I said yes. We can both be winners." She was twirling the strand of his silver hair around her fingers.

"How come you're not freezing to death?" she asked unexpectedly, eyes meeting his again. "You're not even wearing a coat."

Inuyasha shrugged, glad that Kagome wasn't concerned about why he'd been staring at her like a lunatic just a minute ago. "It's the demon blood. Being half-demon gives me half the advantages of a demon I guess."

"Being half-demon… that's why you don't look like other demons… like Kouga…" Her eyes flicked towards his very unique canine ears.

Inuyasha tensed, he didn't like where this conversation was going. He didn't want to have to tell her how his mother was a human and his father was a dog demon and because of them he was both and neither. Kagome's eyes remained trained on his ears, which were twitching agitatedly atop his head. Absentmindedly, she lifted a hand towards the nearest one. All she could think about was how cute they looked and how the urge to pet them was uncontrollable.

Her fingers had only grazed the downy white fur of his ear but without warning Inuyasha jerked away from her as if he'd been shocked, sitting up and turning away from her. Kagome quickly followed suit, sitting up and gaping at him in confusion.

"Inuyasha I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do that. Did I…did I hurt you?" When he didn't answer she reached out a hand to touch his shoulder but thought better of it.

"Are you okay?" she pressed.

Inuyasha clenched his teeth and tried to quell the sudden urge to run away.

"No." he said hurriedly. "I mean no its fine, I'm sorry. You just startled me, that's all."

He turned his head to see Kagome still staring at him with concern. "Seriously, I'm fine."

He got up, brushing the snow off of his now damp suit and offered Kagome a hand up.

"Let's go back in now."

* * *

"Kagome! Hey, Kagome!"

Kagome swatted away the hand that was nudging her awake. "No," she moaned. "Just five more minutes…please mom…"

"Mom?" Inuyasha muttered.

He grabbed her shoulder and shook her again, making sure not to be too rough. After they'd gone back in to the building, Kagome was put right back to work and neither of them had had a chance to talk much after that…something he was a little glad for. Either way, he knew how exhausted she must have been because the moment he'd offered her a ride back home at the end of the day and she'd finished strapping herself in, she was fast asleep.

Now he was parked in front of her family shrine house, and she was still showing no sign of waking up. He grinned suddenly, an idea struck.

He lifted a finger slowly to her face and being very careful of his claws, tickled her nose. It immediately scrunched up, but she still lay very much asleep. He repeated the gesture.

"Kagome, wake up!" he yelled, trying to sound as horrified as he could. "There's a spider on your face!"

"Hm?" Kagome mumbled, slowly stirring awake. Then her eyes shot open suddenly as her conscious mind comprehended what he was saying. She shrieked so loud Inuyasha nearly covered his ears and she jumped forward in her seat, swatting wildly at her face with her hands.

"Is it gone, is it gone?" she demanded, staring at him with round eyes, suddenly wide awake.

Inuyasha cringed, hesitating. "Uh yeah, it's gone." He was better off not telling the truth anyway, he didn't want to get clobbered to death in the car by a sleep-deprived teen just yet.

"Are you sure?"

Inuyasha nodded gravely.

"Good." Kagome let out a breath, still looking thoroughly grossed out as she peered around the car, as if the imaginary spider would attack her once again. Taking in her surroundings she slowly realized where she was. She patted down her messy hair which had been the result of her flailing around and turned her gaze on Inuyasha.

"Was I sleeping the whole time?"

"Like a log." Inuyasha remarked.

"Oh." Kagome kept looking at him, looking like she wanted to say something but couldn't exactly put it into words. "Inuyasha about today I-"

"It's getting late Kagome and I gotta get home. We can talk tomorrow, okay?"

Kagome stared in confusion as Inuyasha cut her off and then leaned over to undo her seat belt.

"Inuyasha." She leveled him with a reproachful look but he just smiled back pleasantly.

"Run along now, you're mother must be waiting up for you." He made a shooing gesture with his hand.

Kagome heaved a sigh. Fine, he could avoid her today but there was no way he was getting out of it tomorrow.

"Good night." She said, opening her door and stepping out into the near freezing night.

"Night!" Inuyasha waved and when she had shut the door, zoomed off down the road.

Kagome stood, staring after him she shook her head with a smile lighting her face at his crazy antics and then trekked up the shrine steps.

When she got inside her house calling out a greeting, she realized Inuyasha was right, her mother was in fact waiting up for her in the living room watching television with the volume turned down.

"Oh you're home dear." Her mother said with a smile. "How was your day? You must be so tired."

Kagome took off her mitts and unbuttoned her jacket. "It went well, and yeah I'm just going to run upstairs and take a bath before going to bed."

"One second dear," Mrs. Higurashi said before Kagome had a chance to scurry off. "Sango came over to see you a couple hours ago but I told her you weren't home. She looked very troubled and kept insisting that she'd wait here for you so I told her she could go up to your room and make herself comfortable. Is everything okay?"

Kagome looked confused. "Sango's here? I had no idea…I'll go talk to her right away."

Mrs. Higurashi nodded in agreement.

"And Kagome," she called as Kagome headed towards the stairs. "Let Sango know that if she wants, she's welcome to sleep over tonight."

Kagome smiled at the thoughtfulness of her mother. "I will mama, good night."

Kagome climbed the stairs, padding down the hallway and approaching her room slowly. She really wasn't sure what was going on but it must be really important because Sango wasn't the type to get worried easily no matter what the situation.

The door to her room was left ajar and she pushed it all the way open to find her best friend sitting on her bed, her head bent down. Kagome took a step forward, getting a sinking feeling in her stomach and the floor creaked loudly alerting Sango of her presence.

She lifted her face towards Kagome, eyes brimming with tears.

"Kagome..."

Kagome rushed over, automatically wrapping her friend in an embrace.

"Sango what's wrong? What happened?"

'It's over." Sango said sobbing quietly. "Miroku and I are over."

* * *

Feedback and reviews are always welcome!

I understand that it's horrible waiting for incomplete stories to get updates but as a student it's getting really hard to juggle everything going on...and that's excluding the social life...because mine is non-existent. Anyway I'll update again as soon as I'm able :)


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